The surgery went off largely as planned, and I’m home again now. Kathy and Liam dropped me off at the front door to the hospital yesterday morning at 9:00am, and I went through about 30 minutes of registration, orientation, and signing the “you might die” disclaimers. I then ended up with about two idle hours in the preop room, where I grew increasingly nervous. I was starting to think about backing out of the surgery, but flipped on Conan O’Brian, which managed to keep me distracted until they started giving me anesthetics.

I woke for the first time around 2:30pm, only lucid enough to eat a couple ice chips and fall back asleep. I drifted in and out of consciousness until 3:45, when I called Kathy to let her know I was awake and doing fine. She wasn’t answering, so I left a message. Five minutes later, she came into the room, evidently having grown impatient with waiting at home. It was nice to have some familiar human company, even though I wasn’t yet up to staying awake for long at a stretch.

I’d been hoping to get home Friday evening, but the doctor ended up vetoing that idea for reasons that are still a bit unclear to me. As a result, I had the amusingly incongruous experience of trying to fill a specimen cup while listening to Christmas carolers sing in the hallway. Ah, the joys of hospital life! Kathy brought Liam and Abigail by later on in the evening; their visit was quite welcome.

After a night of regular pokes, probes, and measurements, my surgeon dropped by to check up on me. He gave the all-clear, so I donned my clothes, called Kathy, and got on home. Now I’m home with a sore belly and some renegade CO₂ in my system, but all is well, and I’m glad to be in familiar, friendly environs once again. Thanks to all for your support and prayers.