Hi All,

I am writing to tell you all that Nancy MADE IT!! A bit of confusion
at the first that made for a "funny" day. She is OK, in some pain but
in her room and doing fine. Full story below, for those who have the
time <VBEG>. You have been warned!!


We were woken up at 7:30am by a phone call from the hospital. Nancy
was asked if we could be there at 9:00 (her appointment was for 1:00
with surgery at 2:00.) for a 10:00 surgery. Nancy said we could be
there at 9:30 (1 hr to get ready , 1/2 hr to get there.) and the
scheduling nurse said that would be fine. Oh well, what you gonna do?

So we are running around getting ready and ~8:00 they call and
reschedule to 1:00 surgery time! There was an emergency (pediatric
auto accident ), so Nancy got 'bumped', fair enough! Oh well, what
you gonna do? sound familiar?

We show up at 12:00 and followed the signs to the "OUTPATIENT
Admitting" door. Inside the waiting room are a zillion people, a table
with an IN box and a telephone. A sign next to the phone says to call
XXXX for Outpatient Admitting & call XXXY for the Recovery room.

Nancy calls the Admitting # and they tell her that we need to go to
the other end of the building and take the elevator to another floor
and go to Admitting. Huummmm this seems odd to us, since we are at the
admitting location (according to the signs. But off we go. Of course
the elevator is broken, so we take the stairs. All together now (hands
raised in Join the Choir motion) "Oh well, what you gonna do?"

OK now we are at the correct place , Admitting, not Outpatient
Admitting, and Nancy gets admitted. So far so good. A tad confusing,
but we are doing OK. NOW back to Outpatient Admitting to put our
paperwork in the IN box and call the phone number. I am starting to
see the picture here. It is a test to see if you REALLY need this
surgery! <LOL> Fortunately, ever on the ball, Nancy got us
there early, so we are fine.

Only about 15 -20 minutes goes bye, just long enough for Nancy to go
to the bathroom (we have been here a while, eh? or is this TMI???)
<EG>, and out comes the Miller (He was very nice and professional,
with a great sense of humor) to take Nancy into the back to get her
robed and get the IV going. . We chat for a minute and Nancy comes
back. And Hey! it's only 12:15, right on time for a hospital, right?

OK so 20 minutes (~ 12:35) later and after asking the volunteer to
check for me I get in to see Nancy in the Pre-OP room. It shouldn't be
long now! .... ....
..... (that's time passing, We tell jokes with Miller) ,,,,,, .....
..... (hey everybody else has rotated out and new people are in all the
cubicles!)....
...... ....( I know, lets play 20 questions)... ... ...OK it is now
2:30 and the doctors and Nurses show up, go away, come back a while
later, I kiss Nancy & she is off to the Operating room at ~3:00.
Oddly, something about this time sounds familiar, I remember, the
original appointment was for 3:00!! "Oh well (I know, by now you are
groaning), what you gonna do?"

I go get lunch, make a few phone calls and come back at ~4:20 , over
1/2 hr before the doctor's estimate ("at least 2 hrs"). I wait
patiently for 45 minutes and then call the recovery #. The person
tells me that she is in Recovery and should be up in the room in ~ 1/2
hr. and I can see her there. HMM, I thought the doctor was supposed
to see me and tell me what is going on. "Oh well,..." By now you know
the rest. ;-P

I go up and she has a nice little private room for the night. I was
waiting in her room when she arrived. She feels kinda crappy (as you
might expect), and says that they underestimated the amount of pain
:-(

So now she is up in her room sleeping (9:00pm PST). I am home and the
kitties are a bit cranky, cause they don't understand why we were gone
and where the heck is 'meow-ma' ???

Quite a tome, eh? glad I gave the end away so you could relax while
you read this?? hahahha Nancy should be home tomorrow but may not
feel like getting on the PC, OK, who am I kidding, that's what
wireless is for, right? SO all together, for the LAST time (I
promise) "Oh well, what you gonna do?"

Anyway, it's late here so I am off to bed. I know Nancy thanks all of
you for your kind words and good wishes, as do I. :-)

Geoff
Nancy