First off, a HUGE round of hugs and thank-yous for
everyone who took the time to send their positive
thoughts and wishes while I was in the grip of
pre-operation familial anxiety.  While I didn't
have much chance to log in from Arizona, since I
didn't want to tie up my parents' phone line (we
tried to keep it free as much as possible for
doctor and relative calls), I did take a few
minutes every night to pop on and nab my mail.  I
promise I'll be answering every message over the
next couple of days, but first I wanted to post a
note to thank every one of you for your moral
support -- I feel very grateful indeed to know so
many wonderful people.  :)  And to think we all
met because of little pieces of overpriced
plastic... heehee!

Anyway, the short form of the story is that I'm
home from Arizona, and happy to say that my dad
was released from the hospital and is recovering
quickly.  He's also the first cyborg in the
family, lucky thing.  *grin*  During his surgery,
they ran a wire into his heart and implanted an
automatic defibrillator under the skin of his left
shoulder -- if his heart tries to stop, dad's new
onboard computer will sense it and send out an
appropriate shock.  It can also act as a pacemaker
if necessary.  How cool is that?

So in honor of dad's technical upgrade, and my own
incredible sense of relief, I'd like to call for a
new thread.  SHOW ME... science!