Ultrasounds+Surgeons+Soma+CCs

In the past hour, we've had a major breakthrough in Pablo's comfort level. He is loving life again, and playing up a storm. One minute he was writhing in pain. The next, he looked up at the TV, laughed and said, 'Dude did you see that?' What a RELIEF!!!!! Jo Ann and I agree on a lot of things in life, and one of them is that no matter what the doctors say about anything, we can always pull up our collars and face the pain MUCH better when Pablo is comfortable and happy.

Being a dude, I am pleased to relay the precise details of today's breakthrough:

• Removal of catheter
• 300 CCs of pee right after catheter removal, using only God-given plumbing
• Wheelchair ride to ultrasound lab
• Side trip to front lobby fish tank on way back from ultrasound lab
• Valium and morphine back at the room
• Soap enema, complete with 20 minutes of 'holding time'
• 400 CCs of pee
• One giant vapor-drop
• Enema-inspired fireworks forthcoming. Can't wait (seriously) (really)

So there you have it: fish tank, belly pics, a vicious whizz, and a soapy enema.... Sounds better than Aldous Huxley's soma vacation. And not a little like a page from the Led Zeppelin biog 'Hammer of the Gods.'

Jo Ann and I had the 7 a.m. meeting with the surgeons, Drs Stein and Hardy. Both amazing, highly talented, authoritative guys. The kind of dudes whose names are daily preceded by the phrase 'the best in the world.' Seriously. The challenge we faced in this morning's meeting is which one of them is going to be the lead surgeon in Monday's surgery.

Now, I have been in some awkward rooms in my day. I have been the effin' cause of the awkwardity many times. I have been the receiver of it many many times. Today, I found myself telling these two surgeons that i understand their challenge, and that it reminds me of the odd phenom that happens when you get two great bands together to do a co-headlining tour. Everyone is excited about how many tickets can be sold, what fun it will be, etc etc. And then the other shoe drops. Who will close the show?

In the rock touring business, the simple solution is to have each band close in alternating markets. That won't work in our situation–Monday morning is the only show on the tour. Nevertheless, I am thinking about manufacturing tour shirts for sale on the blog. More on that later....

In the end, the surgeons worked it out. But, boy, was that a boiler room.

The bottom line is, we know that both surgeons have Pablo's care at the top of their list. We only care that we have the best oncological surgeon and the best urological surgeon in the U.S. working on Pablo. That's why we sought out Dr Hardy, a 30+ year star urologist, and asked him to join our team. Dr Stein, we have grown very close with. He has mad skills, and is a great communicator. The dude has been the lead on the separation of two different sets of conjoined twins, and he's a master oncological surgeon.


As I write this, it feels like we're set to have a good weekend. Pablo is on his way to recovering from surgery number one. We're rocking movies on the big ol' iMac from my office, he is sucking on an organic lemon lolly from Trader Joe's, and Mommy and Nana are out doing their thing. I'm going to run over to the kooky construction site that will soon be Dangerbird HQ, then over to our house to check in on the construction site that will soon be Pablo's play room and our family library.

Surgery is set for first thing Monday morning. There shouldn't be any major medical stuff to tell you until then. I'm hoping to keep the posts lighthearted over the weekend. I plan to do a couple more personality profiles–there are SO many people to acknowledge in Operation Pablo!

OK, talk soon...