Neighbor’s dock. Photo by K. C. Gravely

Dear family and friends,

I know that every day, every hour, very strong and brave women go through what Nora did today. I can do nothing but sit back in awe. Joking with our surgeon and anesthesiologist just prior to the operation

   (Nora: You think you’re going need a stool to reach me?
    Surgeon: [who is not tall] You know these tables go down, too.)

might be placed in a special category. You decide on the category.

5:50 a.m. We arrived at the hospital a bit early. Daughter Sarah and beau Jeremy were kind enough to let us use their place on Hilton Head last evening (they came out to the Ridge to take care of the dogs). Everything was so efficient, so nice, so … nothing prepares you, nothing. It is one minute, one hour at a time. Clock checking. Too often. We have brought a change of clothes. We are scheduled to stay overnight at the hospital. (Nora does not like the schedule.)

7:30 a.m. Nora is under. Dr. Herrmann is doing her magic. (Of course it is not magic, it is extraordinary skill, a tremendous team effort, decades of knowledge and training, a special gift …nonetheless, to me, magic.)

9:30 a.m. Patsy, recovery room nurse (our friend and Aaron’s Godmother), notifies me Nora is coming out of it and I am to meet with Dr. Herrmann. I find out (in a small room off the family waiting area) that all went well. More this and that. I’ll get a copy of the pathology report, etc. She tells me (I have heard this since yesterday) Nora wants to go home. No overnight stay. Dr. Herrmann smiles (it’s a hellova smile) and says “Probably.”

10:45. I am with Nora. She’s in pain. Patsy shoots her up with some good stuff and the pain dwindles. Dr. Herrmann has said that if Nora continues to respond well, she can be discharged. Dr. Herrmann believes in “quality of life.” I used to use that phrase in ad copy. I am embarrassed. I do not know squat.

12:30 Pain, other meds called in to Main Street Pharmacy in Ridgeland. Better living through chemistry.

Very happy “mama”
is home

1:16 p.m. We are in the car, headed back to the Ridge. Same day surgery (or as our friend Walter Palmer – who, with wife Karen — were to cover tonight on the Ridge – calls it “drive by surgery”), and we’re home. Nora is elated, if groggy. Sarah will spend the night and will learn what the home health care nurse has to tell us tomorrow.

Nora did well. “Same day surgery” for a mastectomy. Incredible woman.

Oh, yes. Hair growing. I say it’s blonde. She says gray.

Thank you all. Radiation begins in about 6 weeks.

Paul