Los Mineros de Chile!

Thanks to live TV, people around the world got to witness the miracle of the 33 Chilean miners being retrieved, one by one, from the collapsed mine where they have spent the past 68 (or 69, depending on the person) days. Thank God for answered prayers! It's miraculous to me that everyone from the mine actually survived the original accident, and then all 33 men lived for 17 days underground on next to no food before rescuers made first contact. Miraculous. Seriously.

As each miner was brought up by the Phoenix capsule, they were greeted with the chant, "Chi Chi Chi! Le Le Le! Los mineros de Chile!" I'm so happy that everyone made it back to the surface alive. Well, they're working on bringing up the last few rescuers who went down to assist with the retrieval process, and THEN everyone will be up. That's a lot of guardian angels who deserve a medal, in my book.

In other news, I had my sit-down session with the surgeon today. I absolutely will have to have surgery to remove the fibroid. Due to its size (comparable to a canteloupe), none of the easier, incision-free options are open to me. On the one hand, phooey, I don't want to need an incision or surgery. On the other hand, I'm glad that the problem is something that one surgery can fully resolve. I've sat in waiting rooms for several specialists this year, with people who WISH one surgery would've been enough to restore their health. So I can't gripe too much.

I can't say major surgery is "getting off easy", but I'm getting off more easily than some other patients out there. I have a tentative date for the surgery, though the scheduling office will have to call me to confirm it. It'll be an in-patient procedure; if I have the procedure on a Tuesday, I should be home by Thursday or Friday. Mark will have to take over the Critter Duties for a few days. That could make life interesting for him, as he's only got two hands but there are three pets who will all want doting. :-)

All I can say is, Watch This Space. Updates will come through on a timely basis.