Meet My Hero

I just want to acknowledge my unbelievable niece, Angela who just graduated from medical school. She will be starting her residency on July 1st in General Surgery. One might think that the sheer act of graduating from medical school makes her special. However, her brilliance does not stop there. Angie is a woman of purpose. She has known since she was a young teenager what she was placed on this earth to do! Not only has she wanted to be a doctor for a very long time, she also wants to serve God and be an instrument of his grace to other people in far away lands who may never otherwise have the opportunity to hear the good news! I live in awe of her commitment since a young age. I marvel at her ability to listen intently to God and follow him so closely. I look forward to every time that I get to see her and learn about her latest adventures. Anyway, Angela Hope Qualey is definitely one of my heros! You go girl!

Hey ... who stole my uterus?

OK ... so, I haven't written in a while which means that I am either (a) a really lame blogger; (b) possibly so busy having crazy-exciting adventures to blog; or (c) someone who doesn't have a whole lot to say! You pick, but here goes.

There has actually been a lot happening in my family and my life over the last several months. But, tonight I want to talk about my uterus. My doctor performed a exorcism on my uterus. There is absolutely no other way to explain it. It seems that a nasty fibroid measuring about 8 centimeters took up residence in my pelvic cavity and attached itself to my uterus. As such, I named it Brutus. I have to laugh because I was reading a message board called HysterSisters where a group of women were comparing their fibroid sizes. Oh yes ... you men may want to compare your, ahem, "manhood" and us ladies will just compare our fibroids. Anyway, the message board was very entertaining and the ladies began to compare the names that they had all given to their fibroid. I found this really funny because you do feel compelled to name it. It feels like this living being inside of you doing war with your body with malicious intent! One lady noted that everyone had given their fibroid a male name ... curious.

So, I went to the hospital on April 15th and had Brutus forcefully removed. The doctor decided to not just take out Brutus, but the whole set of plumbing ... both ovaries, etc. The surgery itself was interesting in that she didn't do a big incision like ladies get when they have a ceasarian section. Rather, she did it laporoscopically ... sorry about that lousy spelling. This has made the recovery much, much easier than it otherwise would have been. The whole experience was crazy. When I woke up, I was in crazy pain and the nice nurse started pumping me with morphine. Nice! Morphine = Good. Did you know that in Britain that they don't give patients narcotics for pain? They view narcotics as bad. I have no idea what they give you. Perhaps that's why it is necessary for the Brits to maintain that stiff upper lip.

Anyway ... I'm about 2 weeks out from my surgery and the recovery is going pretty much like clockwork. I still have discomfort and get tired pretty easy, but for the most part I'm feeling pretty good. I'm really happy to know that Brutus has left the building. Perhaps I will write a children's book about the whole experience. On second thought, maybe not.

Why I love Alpha Phi!

It's not often that you find a group of people with whom you truly resonate. This is how I feel about Alpha Phi. No matter where I travel in this country, I always run into other women who share my passion. There is nothing better than meeting someone who's shared experience makes you an instant friend. For the last 6 years, I've been working with our chapter in Santa Clara, California as their Recruitment Advisor. I have had the time of my life and I just LOVE these young women. They are SO smart and accomplished. They dream big and put their all into everything they do. With this "Go Big or Go Home" attitude, they are the top donor chapter to our Foundation which supports, among other things, cardiac care education for women. Last year they raised over $74,000 for the cause.

Meet my friend Laura Crowe (she the one on the right). I love Laura. I sincerely believe that we must have been separated at birth, even though I'm a bit older than her. It could happen, right? Laura is the Chapter Advisor for Zeta Gamma chapter in Santa Clara, CA. This is a picture of her at Alpha Phi Convention in 2002. We think so alike that it is truly scary. We can complete eachothers sentences and we are always on the same page in terms of giving advice to the chapter. I don't think I've found anyone other than my own biological sister that I have felt such "simpatico" with. Laura is amazing because she is one of the best Chapter Advisors that I have ever known and at the same time she is a wife, mother of 2 toddlers, and has her own dental practice. She went to college at UC Berkley and grew up in California. I think this is the beauty of Alpha Phi that a girl from Kansas and a girl from Berkley can one day meet and be the best of friends ... how great is that?

Well ... stay tuned. I'm having lots of adventures here in California. This girl from Kansas is only getting started.