WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2009 5:44 PM, CDT

Today is finally over. We are both exhausted. Of course, Olin has been either sedated or recovering from sedation all day, so he’s raring to go. Joy, Robin’s sister, is cooking dinner for us, and we’re hoping that they will play him into
exhaustion, so he’ll sleep, tonight.
All of Olin’s tests and labs checked out, and we are a ‘go’ for the morning.
For those planning to drive up here, we need to have Olin at admissions at 6:15 AM. There is no specific room where we’ll be waiting – they move us depending on room availability and Olin’s progress. If you have a cell, you can just call us to
find out where we’re at. If you don’t, I suggest hooking up with someone who does, or asking admissions to call 5th floor cardiac ICU and have them get a hold of us. That’s who will be ‘managing’ us later in the process.
As for the process… Olin goes in at 6:15. He is the first case of the day. They will take him back pretty much immediately. Anesthesia prep, line placement etc will take about an hour and a half. The actual surgery will take 3 to 4 hours if all goes according to plan. The total wait time is about 7 hours typically, they say.
I’ll write some more about the specifics when I have a little more energy. We are at the Fiksdal hotel directly across the street from the Francis building entrance, the ‘old’ main entrance, room 507. We’ll probably be here until a spot opens up (if it does) at the RMH.
Wow, I’m exhausted. Time for a nap!