It’s me (Tom) again. I’m sitting in the lobby of the hospital typing this as it is the only place where you can get Internet access. It seems like they could make a lot more money if it was available in the room, but I guess that it American thinking.

Today has been much better. I’ve been up and around several times and the doctor said that I can leave the hospital TOMORROW!!! The physical therapist has been working with me to show me how to stand up, sit down, walk, etc . . . so that I don’t hurt my back. I have a great back-brace that I have to wear anytime that I’m up for the next 9-12 weeks. It really helps take the pressure off my back. I couldn’t be sitting here typing without it.

I still have some pain, but it is only where the incision is (just below my belly button about 6 inches). Basically my stomach hurts all the way across when I stand sit or roll-over in bed, but it isn’t too bad. I have had very little back pain which I’m very surprised about. I guess that new hardware is doing its job. Valerie has seen my post-op X-Rays with the “bionic implants” and I’m looking forward to seeing them soon. I’ll try to post an image so you can see my new hardware. They even gave me an insert for my passport in case I set off a metal detector (although they said that it should only set off the most senstive ones like in federal buildings, etc . . )

We will return to the hotel tomorrow for a couple of days and assuming everything goes well, we will drive home on Monday.

I’m so thankful for all of your encouragement and prayers through this part of the process. We still have a long way to go, but I’m thankful to have made it this far.