good news!

howdy, y'all! this is lola. THE sistah. i've been entrusted with the blog update while the queen's tiarra is being polished. i've promised to use this power for good and not evil, but with the right sort of financial incentive i may be prompted to reveal some embarrassing moments or juicy little factoids ... i am, however, forbidden upon an "unbreakable vow" (harry rules!) to provide any information about the presence--or lack thereof--of a message on a certain shiney white hiney.

it is nearly 11 p.m. on tuesday night as i write this. we've (me and the old folks) all been up since 4:30 this morning and arrived at the hospital between 5 & 5:15. they admitted her on time at 5:30 and after a short wait escorted us to the PACU for pre-op prep. we were able to sit with her for most of the prep but as they started IVs and such, she wanted to go forth solo. she was positive and seemed confident, although i'm sure she was terrified.

we were the first family to arrive in the waiting room early this morning (and i was there this evening until they kicked me out!). her good friends (i don't remember if i'm allowed to use real names so i'll skip that) joined us mid morning. we didn't hear anything (which, they say, in the hospital is a good thing) until 1:30, which accurately accounted for the prep time and surgery time (6 hours of surgery) they had expected. the surgeon met with us and said she'd done great. he's sure it was PVNS. they took a bunch of stuff out but the rest of the knee looked good.

mom and dad saw her briefly as she arrived in recovery (and i think our favorite pals were there, too). they told us she wouldn't be ready for visitors for a couple hours so we crashed at the hotel. we checked in every 45 minutes or so until they told us we could come back.

things are a blur, but i think we went back to the hospital (she was still in the PACU) between 5 & 6. we took turns going down to see her to say hello as they got her ready to go to her room and also to wait for a room to become available.

the room was ready before she was, however. she has been having trouble with the epidural since leaving the OR before 2 this afternoon. it's not a harmful thing or a health issue or even a complication. they are trying to strike the balance between pain control (a decent level of meds through the epidural) and motor control/sensation (a lower level of meds to grant the ability to move your own leg and feel touch/temperature). she needs motor control in order to go up to her "real" room so they have to get the epidural meds lower. but they need to keep her pain down b/c she has to "rest" her knee in that machine-thing that bends it several hours each day. she won't be able to tolerate it if her pain isn't control. it's a delicate balance they have yet to achieve.

i was told that it would be well after midnight before they could think about taking her to her room and i was relieved of my duties. i hated to leave but she is alert and in good spirits and tired, of course. the resident had been in to see her and she liked his answers to her questions, including that the "kind" of PVNS she has is the least likely to recur. she was thrilled with that news. and it is encouraging!

it appears that my sister isn't the only long-winded one in the family. so i'll close shortly. but that reminds me she'd want you to know that she is using one of only 6 bed extenders in the whole hospital. she'd also want you all to know that she appreciates--we all appreciate--all the love and support and help that everyone has sent this way!

i apologize for two things: 1) that i may have the timeline and such confused b/c we're all so tired and 2) that i do not, at this time, have any pictures of the new, sexy, long leg. i'm not sure if that falls into the category of the unbreakable vow or the "will tell for bribes" category. i'm sure we could work something out!