Dear everyone: get a manila folder/waterproof plastic envelope/file box. Put in it: your birth certificate, social security card, passport, marriage certificate, government bonds. Put it in: your sock drawer, the front of your filing cabinet, the cubbyhole under your desk.

Signed, the board's mom, apparently.

That's what I did! And then I forgot where I put it! I need, like a bulletin board to stick it on! (That's what I do with stuff at work I can't lose)

Dear everyone: get a manila folder/waterproof plastic envelope/file box. Put in it: your birth certificate, social security card, passport, marriage certificate, government bonds. Put it in: your sock drawer, the front of your filing cabinet, the cubbyhole under your desk.

And then make a Word doc on your computer named "Where I Put Stuff", and write down in that document where the folder/envelope/box with all that stuff lives.

Signed,
Otherwise I would have no idea where my passport is

...And then put the folder in a small fireproof safe/box. They're much harder to lose. Don't bother locking it, because you'll probably lose the key (or combination) at some point.

And don't be tempted to put it where the rest of the bureaucratic mess lives (in my case: the desk). Because it's not going to work when you actually need it.

Kinda stressed here, you guys. Tim has mitral valve prolapse, which is congenital. His primary care physician has always monitored it, and it's been mild/fine. His PCP had him go get an echocardiogram yesterday, and within half an hour of leaving, the cardiologist's office called and said they'd like to see him in the next couple of days.

The nurse who called said the prolapse has gotten worse, which is why the cardiologist wants to see him ASAP. So I feel like surgery might be in his near future, because a cardiologist doesn't say "We want to see you ASAP" if everything is cool, or just needs continued monitoring. (Though I guess it's good that they didn't say "Come back to the hospital right now because we have an ER booked for you.")

Mitral valve repair/replacement is really common, and pretty damn easy, so it's not a huge thing, but even minimally invasive surgery is still invasive. His appointment is this afternoon, and I'm going to go to the cardiologist appointment with him (because he asked me to, but also because I'm a big medical nerd).

So I have a case of the jitters here. Just hoping that if he needs repair or replacement of the valve, it can be done the minimally invasive way, and not open-heart surgery. (Although of course whatever is going to work best and keep him around for 30 more years is what I want to happen, even if it means cracking his chest open.)

(Assuming it is just minimally invasive surgery, I told him that, considering that Dad AND Mom have had their chests cracked open, mitral valve replacement/repair is minor league stuff and he'd have to work harder to impress Mom and Dad with his heart stuff.)

Fingers crossed. Please send minimally invasive treatment-ma.

(Thank god I have therapy in an hour.)

It's also SUPER amusing to me that I seem to be the only person in the family with a normally functioning heart. t knock on wood

All the ♥ ~ma, Tep!

All good ~ma for Tim.

Good thoughts, Steph. And just breathe until therapy. I mean, keep breathing during and after therapy as well!