Dear Friends,
Today I offer you not a single theme song, but an entire playlist. (See below for the complete list of the songs, along with alternate versions of numbers 58.1 and 84.1, which I couldn’t include because they aren’t available on YouTube. However, I highly recommend checking out the linked versions below!) Also included is a brief comedy break at number 72, courtesy of John Mulaney. I can’t tell you how much fun I had putting the playlist together. You can decide for yourself precisely how inappropriate I was in some sections. For example, I Wanna Be Sedated followed by Cuts Like A Knife, The First Cut is the Deepest, and I’ve Got You Under My Skin, wrapping up with Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough, Take It Off, and Let’s Hang On (to What We’ve Got)? I had no choice but to follow it with the awesome Postmodern Jukebox version of Rude. Because. Well. Wait, who’s the rude one here? Like Carly Simon claimed until recently, I’ll never tell… But you can tell me what other songs should be included – leave a comment!
So today’s the day. Peace out, #LeftBoob! The run of the day has me arriving at 8am, getting a nuclear medicine injection at 10am to guide the lymph node biopsy, and finally at 11am, the surgery itself. My understanding is that it will be a two to three hour procedure, and apparently “most people” go home the next day. We’ll see if this is one of the rare medical instances in which I fall into the “most people” category.
I had a running joke with an old pulmonary doctor about how we were both huge fans of Einstein and his theory of relativity. Fun fact, 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the Theory of Relativity! The doctor came into the exam room after I’d been through the full barrage of pulmonary function tests, and he was super jazzed about the results. “Great news!” he said, “You’re almost back to normal lung function!” I raised an eyebrow in a manner that would make even Stephen Colbert jealous and said, “Normal lung function, you say?” And we both laughed as he clarified that, “It’s all relative.” I was essentially back to my baseline and shouldn’t compare myself to anyone else. It’s like I always tell Polly when she is having trouble focusing on pottying because people and dogs and cars keep having the nerve to go by on the street: don’t worry about what’s going on over there, you just worry about yourself and doing what you’re supposed to do, then you’ll be all right. I digress.
All things being relative, here’s to my “relatively unremarkable” history allowing me to be like “most people” in this instance. Many thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, vibes, dances, and other vehicles of conveying positivity to me, my family, my doctors, and each other today. Be well, friends!
Surgery Playlist
- Priscilla Ahn – A Good Day
- Audra Mae – Here I Go Again
- John Williams – Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme
- Lady Gaga – Born This Way
- The BellRays – Third Time’s the Charm
- Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
- Chicago – You’re the Inspiration
- Traveling Wilburys – Handle with Care
- The Ramones – I Wanna Be Sedated
- Bryan Adams – Cuts Like a Knife
- Cat Stevens – The First Cut is the Deepest
- Frank Sinatra – I’ve Got You Under My Skin
- Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop til You Get Enough
- Dick Dale & the Del-Tones – Take It Off
- Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons – Let’s Hang On to What We’ve Got
- Postmodern Jukebox – Rude
- Lake Street Dive – Bad Self Portraits
- The Shins – Phantom Limb
- Weezer – Say It Ain’t So
- Justin Timberlake – Sexyback
- Carly Simon – You’re So Vain
- Keri Hilson – Pretty Girl Rock
- The Band – Up On Cripple Creek
- Whitney Houston – It’s Not Right, But It’s OK
- Madi Davis – Big Girls Don’t Cry
- Eric Hutchinson – OK, It’s Alright With Me
- Earth, Wind, & Fire – Let’s Groove
- Whitney Houston & Brandy – Impossible/It’s Possible
- Paul McCartney & Ringo Star – With A Little Help from My Friends
- Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand
- Sister Act 2 – Oh Happy Day
- One Republic – I Lived
- Nat King Cole – Smile
- Mika – Grace Kelly
- Bon Jovi – Someday I’ll be Saturday Night
- Kat Edmonson – Lucky
- Kermit the Frog – The Rainbow Connection
- Miley Cyrus with Jimmy Fallon & the Roots – We Can’t Stop
- Havana Brown – Warrior
- Stevie Wonder – Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing
- CraigLewis Band – Change is Gonna Come
- Sara Bareilles – Gonna Get Over You
- Sarah Jarosz – Ring them Bells (Dylan cover)
- The Staple Singers – I’ll Take You There
- The Muppets – Mahna Mahna
- Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
- KT Tunstall – Suddenly I See
- Allen Stone – Celebrate Tonight
- Postmodern Jukebox – My Heart Will Go On
- Chris Colfer – Blackbird
- Green Day – Give Me Novocaine
- Kelly – I Believe I Can Fly
- Idina Menzell – Defying Gravity
- Les Miserables – Castle on a Cloud
- Fuel – Bad Day
- Jamie Cullum – Not While I’m Around
- Gerry & the Pacemakers – Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’
- fun. – Carry On
- Walk the Moon – Shut Up and Dance
- The Lego Movie – Everything is Awesome
- The Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby
- Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma
- Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
- Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
- Morten Lauridsen – Dirait-on
- Ed Sheeran – In My Life (Beatles cover)
- The Clash – Rock the Casbah
- Billy Joel – Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
- Franco Bastelli – Il Tuo Mondo
- Cody ChestnuTT – Til I Met Thee
- Tom Jones – It’s Not Unusual
- John Mulaney – The Best Meal I Ever Had
- Paul McCartney – It’s Getting Better
- Indigo Girls – Closer to Fine
- Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – They Can’t Take That Away from Me
- Elton John – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
- Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – Stars
- Postmodern Jukebox – Livin’ on a Prayer
- Rent Cast with Stevie Wonder – Seasons of Love
- SMASH Cast – Stand
- Blood, Sweat, & Tears – Hi-De-Ho
- Caro Emerald – Absolutely Me
- Carole King – Beautiful
- Sara Bareilles – Brave
- Carole King & Sara Bareilles – Beautiful & Brave Grammy Performance
- Daryl Hall with Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – Do What You Want, Be What You Are
- Van Halen – Right Now
- James Taylor – Fire & Rain
- Pocahontas – Just Around the Riverbend
- Eva Cassidy – Songbird
- Odessa – I Will Be There
- Simon & Garfunkel – The Boxer
- John Legend – So High
- Eve with Gwen Stefani – Let Me Blow Ya Mind
- Iggy Pop – Success
- Rare Earth – I Just Want to Celebrate
- Elizabeth & the Catapult – The Other Side of Zero
- SMASH Cast – That’s Life
- Janelle Monáe – Dance Apocalyptic
- The Wiz Live Cast – Brand New Day
- Led Zeppelin – Thank You
- Stevie Wonder – As
- Vangelis – Chariots of Fire Theme
- Sarah Jarosz – Peace
Just heard your surgery’s done, you’re munching crackers, and joking with the docs. Based on this excellent news you clearly need to add the Rocky theme song to your wonderful playlist… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I33u_EHLI3w
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My attempt at Haikuiing (cause that’s a word):
Mer’s friends pace around
As the office fills with sound
Well wishes abound!
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A special haiku update to kick off yesterday’s events for your avid followers:
A surgery starts
Accompanied by music
And the thoughts of friends.
#YourDayYourWay
Also, it occurs to me.. Do you count the two syllables of “hashtag” when you put a hashtag in a haiku? #ImportantQuestions #It’sNotLikeYou’reTooBusyToPonderThisRight #LookAtThisLeapingGazelleWhileYouWaitForYourSurgery
I was listening to the playlist all day!
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I am not good at haikus so I just want to join in with simple wishes of more music, more health and more hapinness.
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