good news

We've just met with the doctor. He had good news about the surgery. The team was able to remove most of the former offending hardware, and replace it with more shallow screws and rods of a superior material.
She required two pints of blood due to blood pressure drop and length of surgery (6 hours). She did not have to be intubated, which is a relief. I am waiting a few yards from where she will be wheeled out en route to the ICU. We expected that she may need an ICU bed (as opposed to a normal unit bed) because of her age and condition.
My greatest concern for my mom is the pain management. Last time she had a spine surgery, she woke up in a great amount of pain. I told the doctor to feel free to use prolific amounts of Fentanyl and benzodiazapenes (Valium).
We had a great day at Stanford. We ate at the museum cafe and played on the lawn with Olive. Bruce and Justin remained vigilantly protective of our mental and physical health. Olive and Keela stayed on cute duty, making lots of friends. I read a book about teaching reading..

Olive: What are you doing ming ming?
Me: professionl development.
Olive: prufeshnal eloment is boring.
Me: Yes it is!

I'll give an update tomorrow...
I felt all of your well wishes and thoughts throughout the day. Ma has great friends and family.
To the Texas stars: Thanks for taking great care of mom. She came back in a lot better shape than she left and was more ready for surgery as a result.

xoxo, meg