I didn't have to do it alone.

There is, in fact, a connection between this image and the few words that I will here say.

I won't hold you accountable for figuring it out.

What I want to say is this:  I am not heroic when it comes to needles and procedures and today I had, again, to face that fact.  I shake more than I should.  I go a little pale.  I need and am grateful for the advice of my friend Kelly (who told me to think about the coolest, clearest water I've ever seen).  I need and am grateful for Melissa, who is always sure of the best possible outcomes.  I need and am grateful for Wendy, who quilts me with her love and knowledge.  I need and am grateful for Tamra and Amy and Alyson and Charlene and Ruta and Jean and Mario.  I need and am grateful for the chance to laugh along with my husband who, while waiting with me at the outpatient surgical center, found a 2008 Real Simple magazine and earnestly proceeded to report on what I could wear to an upcoming wedding.  If that wedding somehow takes place in 2008.

(I think this is the only time in my married life that my husband has read aloud to me.  I took note of that.  I stopped shaking.)

But I also want to say that I need and am so grateful for the quality medical team that dispatched with their work so capably and kindly.  These were nurses in whom I confided, with whom I laughed, and who I'd actually like to see again someday. This is a doctor who quickly made room for me, and who I trust.  This is an anesthesiologist who showed up for the job today despite having 13 stitches in his thumb, thanks to a late-night run-in with a table saw.

We live in a country where too many people do not have the luxury that I had today of being cared for by the best.  I am lucky in many ways, and I know that.  I would do anything to give my experience to any who are out there in discomfort, wondering.