Its scheduled...

So, I've neglected to write it here but have told most folks already...I'm scheduled for surgery at UPMC on the morning of December 21.   The (at least) 2 week recovery in hospital time means I will be there thru both Christmas and New Years.  I guess most people wouldn't want surgery for Christmas, but I do.  I've wanted to be "fixed" for 6 years now.  From the first episode of pancreatitis I've wanted this to be over.  As long as all goes well, and the surgery does what it should this WILL be the best Christmas present ever.  Of course I'm also a bit bummed about missing the "actual" holidays and scared of the surgery.  Apparently all of my fears and concerns are "normal", according to my therapist yesterday.  Even the brief wishes to just cancel the whole thing and stay home.  I certainly don't feel normal, and this is all scary to me.
I am having a surgery called the Berne procedure and if you care to hear the gory details the basics are here (click on the word here to go to site).  That article is the best explanation I've found on the web (it is rather technical), and personally have gotten most of the info directly from my Dr.   It is very similar to the Berger procedure, which is also on that page.  The reason Dr. Moser chose this particular surgery is to stay out of the way of the portal vein, where the blood clots are.  It will keep the pancreatic duct from continually getting backed up, blocking  food, causing nausea and vomiting and hopefully get rid of the abominable abdominal pain.  (tee-hee, see what I did there? glad I can at least amuse myself while writing)  The surgery will last about 9 hours.  That's the easy part for me, I guess, I'll be blissfully unaware of the difficult work the Dr.s are doing, and the worrying my parents will be doing.  After that, well that's the part that's scaring me.  I will probably be in intensive care for a day or two, and then a long haul of recovery.  Apparently abdominal surgery is one of the toughest and most painful surgeries.  I already favor my upper abdominal area, where most of my pain is, but that will get worse for a while.  There will also be quite a big scar.  
All that's left to get me to December 21st is cleaning my apartment, arranging for people to feed Babycakes, and some pre-op testing.  I know she will be taken care of, but I will really miss and worry about Babycakes.  I also know cats don't have the greatest sense of time and she'll just sleep thru most of the time.  I'm also having a pre-holiday/pre-op party in a week or two, so I can have a bit of Christmas and a chance to hang out with friends before all of this.  
I'll give you more details as I have them.  Thanks for reading.  I don't have a tip today, just keep in touch with me as I go thru all of this!