The Hub City

We're here in beautiful Lubbock, Tx. If you want to know just how beautiful it is, go to the Wasco Brothers web page (www.wascobrothers.com), then go to the photos section and scroll down until you see beautiful Lubbock. Actually, it's been really nice here, not too hot, which also means no thunderstorms or tornados. I was really looking forward to that so I hope things will turn around.

I've decided not to go to MD Anderson. I'm putting all my eggs in Dr. Sugarbaker's basket. It becomes more and more obvious that he is the very, very best. He's done 1600 of these surgeries now and everytime I talk to Ilse, his wife, my confidence in him grows. I'm going to have surgery on July 9 and this horrible disease is going to be gone. At least for a period of time, if not forever. I had a long discussion today with one of Dr. Sugarbaker's former patients. She told me something that I had already figured out which is that going to him is not like going to a normal doctor. Serendipitous things just happen. She said that in case I hadn't figured it out, going to him and having this surgery is the mythic hero's journey. I've had that feeling since I first heard about him. The first day I talked to his wife I e-mailed Sharon and told her that he was the guy.

On a practical note, he recommends that a friend or family member be with the patient at all times. Sharon can do it, but I'm afraid she'll be worse for the wear. If any of you are thinking in terms of a vacation in Washington DC during the month of July, we've been given a free apartment (serendipity?) 5 miles from the hospital and we'd love to have some vistors to spell Sharon.