It's just me, Kevin

So, I'm writing this while sitting here in with Paula in her room about three hours after her procedure.  (Procedure - sounds so antiseptic, doesn't it?  I guess it fits this setting, though.)  Anyway, here's how the day has unravelled so far:

5:30 am - Wake-up for the Hibiclens shower.  Paula hits the snooze.  Can't blame her.

5:45 am - Paula hugs Midori for quite a while.  Won't see her until Friday.  Hoping life won't be changed too much for her, but only time will tell. (Midori has been extra sensitive to the situation and asks Paula on a daily basis if "the doctor fixed Mama's boob?!" or if "the owie is swimming in Mama's boob?!")

5:52 am - Paula gets up for the "special soap" shower and I hit my own snooze button.

6:30 am - I'm actually on time for once!  We're heading out of the house and on our way!

7:00 am - After being flipped off by a lady for taking too long to back into a parking space, we head inside the hospital. (I suspect she was a nurse who was late for work. Hopefully not ours.)

7:05 am - Hurry-up...

7:20 am - ...and wait.  :-/

7:30 am - After finally being allowed to use the restroom, Paula's taken back into the pre-op waiting area.  There are giant comfy chairs for the patients and tiny hard ones for the support staff (read: me).  It's rather amusing, actually.  Paula's feet don't reach the floor. Reminds me of Lilly Tomlin in "The Incredible Shrinking Woman."  Especially when she starts kicking her legs like a little girl.

8:10 am - After the 17th person asks her to spell her name and recite her birthdate and doctor's name, she gets to see the surgeon.  Paula says, "Tell me you brought your A-game today."  He responds, "Yup.  Always bring it on Tuesdays."  They're on the same page.  Good man.  Stronger woman!

8:45 am - Two nurses and an anesthesiologist later, we're ready to go to surgery.

8:55 am - Hurry-up...

9:05 am - ...and wait.  :-/

9:10 am - One bad joke later [don't ask, I've already begged for forgiveness (I think)], Paula's off to surgery.  Good luck!  I love you!

10:00 am - Hurry...

11:00 am - ...up...

12:00 pm - ...and...

1:00 pm - ...wait.  :-/

1:10 pm - Surgeon calls me and says surgery went well.  He explains all the gory details which, surprisingly, I didn't mind.  I'm so excited that it went well that I forgot to ask him some (what I think are) important questions.  Oh well, I'll see him again soon.  The really important part is that she's doing fine.  She'll be out of recovery by about 2:15.  I head back to the hospital.  (Don't worry, Paula told me to run errands, etc., since I was here by myself.  I used the time to buy her a gift.)

2:15 pm - I get to the hospital where I receive a pager similar to those you get while waiting for a table at a restaurant. Though she's scheduled to be out of recovery, they tell me she isn't.

2:45 pm - Hurry-up...

3:12 pm - ...and  OK, I'm tired of waiting.  I go back up to double-check to see if maybe my pager isn't working.  The lady tells me that she has been moved to a room after all. 30 minutes before.  Did they page me?  No.  Did they check?  No.  Am I frustrated?  

3:14 pm - Moving as fast as I can without getting yelled at by the hall monitors in scrubs, I make it to Paula's room in 2 min.  Elevator and all.

5:15 pm - Off to X-ray for a follow-up chest exam.  I start this blog entry.

5:45 pm - The secondary chest X-ray reveals air around the lung - a condition called pneumothorax.  Crazy name that means we'll be staying 2-3 days longer in this antiseptic hotel while they do another surgery to insert a chest tube and watch what happens.

6:30 pm -  Hurry-up and wait...