And so it Begins

8:30 a.m.

I'm settling in to the waiting room at Yale-New Haven for what they tell me will be about a 10 hour stay--8 1/2 hours surgery followed by 90 min in recovery. We met the surgeon, who told me his part will take about 4-1/2 hours. If we hold to that schedule, I should have some news by about 2:00 EST.

We arose at 5:30 this morning (early for Sandra!) and MM arrived at 6:15. She and Sandy went over final details for a while and then Entropy Boy stumbled down the stairs and began talking to MM. After a few minutes I told him to give her a break so she could settle in, but she said it was fine--because she never hears EB say that many words in a whole day with his brother around! (If you've seen them in person, you know what I mean. Spiff sometimes gets "talking timeouts") MM is fantastic, they're probably in better care in her hands than mine.

After a quick drive to the hospital we went to the pre-admission check in, where everything went very quickly. She changed into a gown that attaches to a warm-air heater and we enjoyed a little quiet before the admitting nurse came to finish the preparations. Sandy has been as cheerful and relaxed this morning as she's ever been: when the admitting nurse asked if there was any chance she could be pregnant, she replied "absolutely none whatsoever!" with such conviction it made us all laugh.

The waiting room is very nice: comfortable furniture, windows with a decent view, snacks and coffee available, and the T.V., although tuned to an infomercial channel is quiet enough that it's not disturbing. (The current offer to lose 6 pounds in 3 days looks very appealing, if only I could dance like those girls) My initial companions were a middle-aged couple who seemed to be planning some kind of home construction and an older-man we'd talked to in the elevator. Within a half-hour the room was filled with a cross-section of humanity: everyone from a guy in a Bike Week t-shirt to someone in a suit. Several of them are talking too damn loudly on their phones. I'm cocooned in my music shooting them an occasional dirty look.

More later.