The clock is ticking...

Again, I don't have a ton of jokes or quote-worthy material to post tonight. It's been a long, exhausting day. Emily showed her two-year-old-ness like a champ during her pre-op, absolutely refusing to let the nurse take her blood pressure, maintaining a zen-like calm while they drew blood from her arm and then requiring three adults to hold her down while they took x-rays. If her head fully spins around, I'm out. Dr. Paley's on his own.

Team Paley once again showed why people travel from all over the globe to see them. The staff could not have been any nicer or more helpful. We were in the hospital from 11 AM until about 2 PM, took a brief break for lunch (Sonic!!) and then back for more meetings, pictures and Paley-ness until about 5:30. While it was a difficult day mentally, it obviously could have been far, far worse. Some brief notes from today's activities...

-Kate and I get to decide which one of us wants to go into the operating room with Emily and anesthetize her. Oh, and it's helpful if she starts crying, because she breathes harder and falls asleep faster. How's YOUR day going to start tomorrow? Got a tough day at the office? F--k off.

-We're looking at close to seven hours worth of surgery and surgery-related goodness tomorrow. 90 minutes for prep, three hours for the procedure, an hour to cast and another hour for her to come out of her haze.

-Met a pair of moms (one from Michigan, one from Utah) who are here with their sons for lengthenings. Both were extraordinarily friendly and talked about the community that exists around the hospital making things so much easier as everybody has somebody to lean on. Comforting, to say the least.

-At one point, one of the moms talked about Paley's ability to remember each child and even their specific interests. Caroline Eaton, who was in on the conversation, chimes in, "the really amazing thing is that he can look at x-rays and recognize the kids by their femurs!" I am NOT making that up.

-Caroline led off one of our meetings today warning me to not post any photos of Ems in her spica cast. Apparently, after a few conversations with the FBI, she found out there's some pervs out there who are into that sort of thing...ifyaknowwhatImean. I WISH I were making that up.

-In the final, self-serving note of the evening, Caroline mentioned Paley's weekly meeting with his team where he presents upcoming cases. In front of about 40 people, he read directly from The Gray Area while discussing Emily. Allegedly, there are now bets being placed as to which staff member will be mentioned in future posts. And if you think I'm not immature enough to somehow use this to our advantage...well, then you clearly have not been paying attention. Having said that, nothing makes sleeping in a reclining hospital chair easier than a nice fleece blanket. Ahem.

Anyway, the last supper is finished. Emily is watching Kung-Fu Panda (I know...I'm shocked too) blissfully unaware of what awaits her. Kate and I hope to get SOME sleep before walking through the hospital doors at 6 AM. But I wouldn't bet on that.

I'll have the laptop with me tomorrow and will try and give some updates throughout the day. If you know anybody upstairs with any pull, put in a good word for us. We'll take all the help we can get.