Update

Well, we got through yesterday. We had more happening than the surgery. It turned out to be a very hectic day.

The surgery was scheduled in the mid afternoon. He had to be checked in at 11:00. I never could get a clear answer about how long it was or when he would be going home. I have to pick up the kids between 2:30 and 3:00 . J2 needed to be at Speech Therapy at 10:45. My brother was able to help me with that and took him to school. They told us at check in that the surgery/recovery would take about three hours. I figured I could wait for him and still pick everyone up. The wait turned out to be three hours. The doctor was running behind so we waited and waited and waited. Now, if you know E.P. you understand that he doesn't like to be kept waiting for even a short period of time let alone three hours. I think I'm a bit more patient and understanding but three hours, really.

They told him to go in a tank top. So he wore a running top left over from the Baker to Vegas run years ago, jeans and sandals. They had the air on full blast and we were freezing! I asked the nurse if we could leave for a bit and then they could call us when the doctor got there. She said that he would be right here and not to leave. E.P. went outside to warm up and the nurses got concerned when they saw him leaving. I told them where he was going and if they needed him I'd go get him. The nurses were very nice about it and tried to get the doctor over there. I heard another doctor yelling in the phone that the doctor needed to get over to surgery because they had three patients waiting and upset and they (the surgical staff) were getting tired of waiting for him. CNN was playing on the t.v. in the waiting room. That plus the wait I told El Patron that his blood pressure was going to get to high and that they would cancel the surgery. The Pigeon Guy (a friend that helps us with the pigeons) told him that he could take care of it with a bowie knife and a belt sander for free. By the time they got him in the back to prep him he was about to take him up on it.

They finally got to him by just after 2:00. I had already left to get the kids. Of course, because I was in a hurry and worried about El Patron I had a hard time finding the kids. J wasn't where he was supposed to be waiting for me by the Kindergarten gate and Filbert (my friends daughter that I watch) was slow walking over to the park where we pick her up. I had to go get lemons because J. had a 4-H community meeting that night and it was pie night. He was also supposed to have his Jr Teen leadership papers were due. He wanted to make two different pies but I told him if he wanted to do that he should have done that the night before. He had so much homework Wednesday night that he couldn't get to them.

So I dropped of J. and Filbert to wait for her Mom and took J2 to the hospital with me. I really wanted to be there when he woke up. When I walked into the waiting room the nurse was on the phone saying that I had just walked in. She told me that he was out of recovery and would
put in 5 minutes. This is when I got a bit mad. I wanted to be with him for this. Not just for him but for me. I realize that this is a minor surgery but I was worried. Not to be there when he woke up really upset me. I do realize that all of this was out of my control and I was trying to get the Doctor some credit. I think that maybe another patient really needed him and that he would take that kind of time with me or my husband made it better. The bone spur that they took off was about an inch long as well as some tissue that was inflamed. They have a name but I don't remember what they were.

On the way home we stopped for pizza and came home to the wonderful aroma of lemons and the site of a bomb that went off in the kitchen. The boy can bake really well but the disaster he leaves in his wake, Oh boy. I helped him finish the pie as he worked on his homework. El Patron asked me if J. could get a ride to the meeting so I could stay home with him. I called another family to pick him up. She called to ask if J would be ready earlier, as we were putting the Lemon Meringue in the oven. So I popped it under the broiler and told her he was ready. He took this thing pipping hot. I told him to put it in the fridge when he got there and not to worry, there wasn't a ribbon at stake.

El Patron was looking at his prescriptions in a bit of a drug induced state and couldn't figure out how he was going to take his antibiotic every four hours. I told him that it was 4 times a day not every four hours. We went around a few time until I grabbed them and told him that he was no longer in charge of them and I would give them to him when it was time.

J2 and I did puzzles until El Patron felt that it was time to go to bed. Not that he wasn't asleep on the couch already. I waited for J. to get home from the meeting and lock up. He got home after nine. He said that everyone liked his pie. This is the pie that won Reserve Champion at our fair and is famous in our club. It went fast and J. didn't get a piece but he did save a piece for his dad.

So, El Patron is doing well this morning. His hand is a bit swollen, so he is elevating it and wiggling his fingers. And after all that went on yesterday, everyone was able to get where they needed to and I didn't hurt anyone.

In true El Patron fashion, this morning he was herd to complain that it hurt and it was supposed to be getting better. I reminded him that it hadn't been 24 hours yet and give it time.

Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers. (Don't you hate long posts with no pictures!)