The Pink Team

"Jim!" The start to our surgery morning couldn't have started out better than seeing Jim. Jim is the PA assistant to Dr. Shin and Dr. Bishop,... and as PA's go, Jim is one of the best. Dawning the pink hat in a show of solidarity Jim confesses, "I've had a number of comments this morning already about my pink hat."

Kim, along with Jeanne Simpson, made 12 hats for the surgery team at the request of Hannah. "When I come for my surgery, I think it would be great for everyone to wear pink!" Hannah told Dr. Shin back in February. Dr. Shin is a good sport, but he refuses to let Hannah turn his world pink. Upon presenting the four pink patterned options to Dr. Shin yesterday at the appointments, "I will be happy to wear this red one here," he told Hannah.

"It's pink, not red," Hannah replied, as if Dr. Shin were having some color vision issue.

The surgery procedure started at 6 AM this morning with a line to the admissions desk that would make a Disney employee proud. A mere 47 minutes later and we were officially checked into Saint Mary's Hospital! Following our admissions process we headed to the next floor up for prep and wait. Now that you're here, let me prep you by telling that you need to have a seat and wait for a bit.

Actually, it wasn't that bad. We cruised right through the nurse's questions, the changing into the surgery outfit, the visit from anesthesiology, and even a little boy in another prep area who did not want to lay on a rolling bed where he would become loopy.

The plan for today is to remove three small bones at the base of the wrist to allow for more room and mobility; get into the forearm and free up some of the muscle and tendons from the bone to allow them to move a bit more freely as well. Hannah will more than likely be in the hospital for the next three days as they keep an eye on her pain and post-op healing. From that point she will have 10-12 days before we will know if she's able to head back to Michigan (then back to Mayo ... then back to Michigan ... then back to Mayo). This will more than likely be the Summer of I-90, as we travel the all to familiar trek.

Jim and Hannah
7:45