So many differences….
When Peter went off to the operating room around 430p, he was accompanied not by his mother but by his sister Caroline, a third year medical student, in scrubs.
His surgeon was not our pediatric hero Dr. Dolgin at Mt. Sinai, but an adult surgeon, NYU’s Dr. Pachter. We’re prepared for Dr. Pachter to be a hero too. The world needs more heroes.
Peter allowed a hug for his ma and sister Liz. Then he wrote a text message to his friends. And signed his own consent form. It was not easy to pry his cell phone out of his hands.
We are waiting for news at Caroline’s apartment, across the street. Caroline is getting Peter’s new iTouch (birthday present) filled with games and music. Elisabeth is working under protest on Caroline’s PC, now that she has gone over to Mac-land. Harold is making rounds at the hospital. Guess there are other sick people in the world. And you know what I’m doing.
Many things are different — age, geography, technology — but the basics are the same. There are few things that are more anxiety-producing than the hours spent waiting for news from a surgeon.
(We don’t expect any news until at least 8p)