Dear Kids,
         My medical troubles go on and on.  Last week I wrote that I was feeling better and better (and Dad, too) but I spoke too soon.  Just a couple of hours after I posted my letter, something really weird happened–my stoma prolapsed.  (If you google it, you can see how icky it is, but I don’t recommend it.)  I called my doctor’s answering service, and got his partner, Dr. Dean, who told me it wasn’t a big deal.  He said that I could easily wait another day (since it was a Sunday morning) and make an appointment to see my regular surgeon, Dr. Bossart.  So I spent the day mostly lying down, trying not to aggravate it.  By evening it was swollen and bleeding and looking awful.  I called in again, and Dr. Dean told me to go to the emergency room.  The weird thing is, Donna and Bevan were here fixing us dinner, (bless their souls) exactly like the Sunday night six weeks ago when I had to go to the emergency room.  So we left in the middle of dinner (again) and Dad drove me down to the ER at LDS Hospital.  After they checked me in, they called Dr. Dean and he came and looked at my stoma.  He got a packet of sugar from the break room and sprinkled some on, because he said he’d seen on the internet that it might make the stoma shrink and go back inside.  Funny–I’d just read that same article.  Is that how our doctors know what to do, they just google it?  Well, of course it didn’t work.  They called in Dr. Bossart, and he started fiddling with it, and was eventually able to push it back inside.  (I’m really sorry this is so gross.) But of course it wasn’t going to stay, so they put me on the surgical schedule for the next day.  And they moved me up to the sixth floor, my old haunt from my last two visits.  I even had the same room I had the first time!
         The operation was really simple, and Dr. Bossart said some people don’t feel any pain from it.  But of course I’m not “some people,” and I’ve had a lot of pain.  But luckily the pain from my incision in the back has practically gone away, so I only have my front side to worry about now.  And I think it will heal lots faster than the back.
         I have to get better quickly because I’m taking on new piano students this week–adults, of course.  Tomorrow Claren Palmer is coming from West Valley, to have a lesson here at our house.  I used to teach him in our Lighthouse piano class, and then he took over the class when Dad and I had to bail out.  He said he wants to come here for lessons, and to fish in the Provo River while he’s at it.  He’s going to pay me with this fabulous fruit cake that he bakes.  Then, on Thursday, I’m starting a new session of my senior piano class in Heber.  So now I’ll be teaching there from nine to twelve every Thursday morning.  It isn’t work, though, because my students are so wonderful. 
         Since my letter is totally about me this week, I’ll add one more thing. I changed my hair color again, from pink to purple, and this isn’t the discreet purple highlights I’ve had before.  It’s bright!  It turned out way brighter and more purple than I imagined.  Maybe I’ll post a picture.
         Meanwhile, I love you all and hope your lives are going well.   Mom