A little late on the update...

My deepest apologies to anyone who continually checked back here over the last 36 hours, thinking something had gone wrong and was genuinely concerned for the health of our child. The simple fact is, she is fine. She had her standard burst of bi-polar-ism (I really hope she's not actually bi-polar seeing as how I continually refer to it in such a casual manner) upon her exit from surgery. She woke up all smiley and happy, pitched a fit when Mommy came to get her, seemed happy to see me in the waiting room, then promptly melted down when I picked her up. All this was followed by a trip to Toys-R-Us and an extended nap for everyone back at the hotel. If I wasn't such a cheapskate, I would have paid the $10 for 24 hours of wi-fi and given you all the gory details right away. But, well, naps are free. So there.

Wednesday wasn't very conducive to blog updates either as Team Tredwell loaded the car and hit the road at 4 AM. With a cooperative three-year old and two parents determined to sleep in their own bed for the first time in 10 days, we pulled into the driveway just after midnight. South Florida to central Connecticut in 20 hours. That's the way you debate!

That gets us to Thursday. Today was a catch-up day. Catch up on sleep, cleaning, finances, yardwork, etc. Should I have gotten to this sooner? Of course. But, honestly, you should be used to this from me by now.

At this point, you're all well aware of the particulars from our check-up. I'll just add a couple notes that I failed to mention the other day.

That is a picture of the screw that was removed from Emily's hip on Tuesday morning. It's about an inch and a half long. She was walking before we got back to the hotel. It furthers my belief that this kid is unstoppable.

When Dr. Paley came into the exam room to check out Emily's x-rays and eventually discuss removing the aforementioned screw, he struggled to raise the seat in front of the computer to a preferable height. I hold this man in such high regard, yet I'm wildly immature and my mouth has always been quicker than my brain. "Really? You can't even work the stool??" I think he laughed.

I'll leave you with this. I tend to wrestle with insecurity. It's part of who I am. Some may doubt that, but that just means I have you fooled (editor's note: sucker!) Then there are moments like Monday at Paley's institute when, in a discussion with patient coordinator Caroline Eaton regarding the new website Paleykids.net which will help patients and their families connect with each other, she mentions, "For a while, your blog was the network!"

The following day, she stops by the bullpen where Kate, Emily and I were getting geared up for surgery by watching Wall-E (don't judge us.) She tells me that Dr. Paley wants me to be sure to mention in the blog that this procedure Emily was about to go through is highly uncommon for Superhip patients. At the time, I just kinda nodded. Only later did I pause to think about that.

Paley and his team make miracles happen all the time.

In my own ridiculous, sophomoric way, I get to help.