Feel like Europe...It's the Final Countdown!!!

6 days to go...Got a busy week next week planned out. Monday I'm meeting with the heads of my department to discuss my future with the service. I'm hoping for a positive outcome on this one, I've asked them to give me the chance to prove that I can still do this job after the surgery and rehab, as well as to give me the time to get back up to 100%. Which would mean continuing my position on light (modified) duty. I'm hoping to return to work in a wheelchair or walker until my prosthetic gets here. Tuesday, I meet with a very influential person in Kentucky EMS, to speak about getting the word out on the blog and doing some fund raising while I'm hospitalized. Gotta pay the bills somehow ya know. Wednesday I'm planning on going out on a date with the fiance' and get prepared for the surgery. Gotta pack my hospital bag with all the in-patient necessities: Laptop, charging cable, XXX Vitamin Water, Clothing, Toiletries, and Grizzly. Yeah Grizzly Wintergreen Longcut...definitely a necessity for any hospital stay over 2 hours. If any of you are in Louisville while I'm cooped up in Norton's Downtown feel free to stop by with a can.

Tonight my son was breaking my heart. He lives a few hours away with his mother, and has come down with a bad case of Strep throat. We're talking, scared that it's epiglotitis kinda strep throat. He tries not to swallow his secretions because it hurts him so bad, and he asked for me, but right after he said he knows that I can't be there because if I get sick then I couldn't have my surgery, and he wants his daddy back more than anything. He's 7, and officially broke his daddy's heart. That's a smart boy, who only wants me to be able to play with him again. Honestly, getting back to work is secondary to living up to his expectations. He couldn't care if I'm ever on an ambulance again, although he does love saying that his daddy saves lives, all he wants is for me to be able to get out and play with him soon. My soon to be step-son and him have decided they know that I'm all better when I can take them to the Louisville Zoo again. That is their benchmark. While the rest of us are looking at residual function and will I be able to function in an ambulance or on scene, all they care about is can I walk the zoo or can I play baseball or football with them this summer. I plan on not letting them down. My step-son today also informed me that he will not throw rocks at my new leg because then it could malfunction. That's a cute boy right there. That's all I have tonight. Stay tuned.