With Emily's permission, I'd like to introduce you to Laslow-Mitford. Yes, that is the alien spine baby in all his glory. Kate photoshopped the tentacles and eyes but the rest of it is all L-M. The surgical team gave us several rather explicit photos which show where the tumor was seated on Em's spine and it's size in relation to her spine. I'll spare you the gory details. The chunk there on top that looks like a mohawk is the bit of Em's lung that they removed because L-M wouldn't let go without a fight.

Em is doing rather well. She drifts into and out of sleep because of the pain meds but is more alert and awake than a few days ago. She has intermittent interwebs so sometimes she is on facebook. Peter Kevin tried to reconnect her yesterday but had no luck. Some tech guys are coming to help her out today. Hopefully, they'll be successful. We think it's funny that the phone costs to use i and the television costs to use but the interwebs are free. Yay for technology!

There's a small complication and they are dealing with it. It means that the chest tube stays put for a while longer and she'll be in the hospital for a few days longer. She is up and moving around and the incision looks like it's healing nicely. All in all, she's doing well. I took her some intellectual reading material (Tattoo magazine, the National Enquirer, Glamour, oh and Vogue Knitting) so she's got something to keep her mind occupied when she can stay awake. She's feeling ready to try some knitting but it'll have to be mindless because she falls asleep in the middle of things.

Pk and I are doing well but we're tired. We have to remember to take some time and just relax. Em is in good hands and although she likes the company, she is ok when we're not there. There is the feeling that we should be there every waking moment but that's unrealistic. We went up after work yesterday and got home after 9 pm and ate some of the food Elanor had ready in the crock pot and went to bed. Today, we'll work half a day and go home and then come back and visit for a while. I'm not sure about the weekend but I will make sure there's some time for just doing relaxing things. I don't need for either one of us to get sick.

I have other photos of the tumor and the surgery and if you're one of those people who like to look at those things (I am) email me and I'll send you some. They're fascinating and really drive home the image that we are all just animated meat.

I hope you are all doing well and finding some time to do some fun things. I can't believe that next week summer starts. After all the rain and clouds, I haven't noticed the days being longer. The solstice is coming soon but how can we tell? I don't mind that it's not hot yet, but I would dearly love some sun.