I never slept with Trish Soodik ... but this is not about my regrets.

Hey, all. Andy Parks here, pinch-hitting for Trish who is temporarily indisposed.
As following in Trish's extremely funny foot-steps is a daunting task, I'll forgo any attempt at humor (for the moment), and cut to the chase:
Trish had her surgery today, and everything went EXTREMELY well. I'll check with her about sharing any intimate details... but the surgeon was very happy with how things went, and the prognosis is rosy (everyone knock on wood).
It was a looooong day, with Trish and Willie arriving at 7:30 a.m. to prepare for surgery at 9:30.... this was changed to 10:3o soon thereafter. Dennis Redfield and myself arrived at around 9:00 to provide moral support.... and, truth be told, much fun WAS had by all concerned in the small pre-op room to which she was assigned.
But then....nothing happened. Nothing BAD happened.... just NOTHING happened. For about three hours.
Apparently Dr. Kuchenbecker (I kid you not) was in surgery before his date with Trish, and complications arose that pushed his schedule back..... Strangely enough, MORE hilarity ensued in the tiny pre-op room, though Trish, who hadn't eaten or drank anything since midnight the night before, was getting a little thirsty and hungry.
Eventually... the 9:30 a.m. surgery commenced at around 12:45.... and lasted for close to 4 and a half hours. During that time Willie, Dennis and I split our time between the cafeteria and the waiting room. SOME hilarity ensued.... but not as much as with Trish in the room.
After the surgery, the remarkable Ms. Soodik was NOT taken to I.C.U., as had been deemed likely, but after an hour or so in recovery, was taken directly to a hospital room. There, having come through a MAJOR bit of abdominal surgery... she proceeded to make jokes. Now... they were sleepy, morphine-laced, wry jokes... but they were jokes.... and, though she may not remember the conversations tomorrow, she knew where she was, what had happened, had questions about what had happened, and (while occasionally nodding off with her finger on the "self-medicating" button) was remarkably THERE.
And, as I know this is important to her, she looked great! Well.... she had a tube coming out of her nose (and from a few other places) and, as she herself felt compelled to point out, wasn't wearing any mascara... but she looked remarkably good.... her hair was even fetchingly disheveled on the pillow.
At one point I thought she'd drifted off, but said to her anyway, "You look fucking great, Trish", and she opened a sleepy eye and said "Put that in the blog".
As she has stated in her previous blogs, she REALLY doesn't want to have a lot of visitors while there's a tube in her nose (it will be there a little longer than is usual; until they make sure, as Dr. Kuchenbecker put it, there are "no leaks" in the new plumbing). I'll relay any changes in that attitude as the days progress (because of the nature of the surgery, the recovery will probably keep her in the hospital for 6 days or so). In the meantime, she re-iterates that if anyone wants to send flowers, she'd love a contribution to The Virgina Avenue Project be sent instead.
Anyway... while not exactly a fun day, it was a very good day. I'll try to keep everyone up-to-date with her progress.
In the meantime ... Trish Soodik remains my idol.