Yesterday we met with Rachel’s doctors and the anesthesiology department for pre-operative instructions. This included the surgical assistant whose name is … (wait for it) … Dr. Lober.

The surgery is scheduled to start at 10:20, and is expected to take 5-6 hours. After that she will be in ICU for 1-2 days. We expect her to be pretty out of it until Friday. The two risks they discussed were infection and brain bleed, both of which are highly unlikely.

For those of you who have expressed a wish to visit Rachel in the hospital, we will have to take it day by day. It may be best for at least some people to visit once she has returned home. If all goes well, she should be home early next week.

We are driving up late this afternoon to a hotel, so we can avoid a hectic morning tomorrow. We will be meeting up with Rachel’s grandfather, who is flying in today to be with us.

Please know how very grateful we are for all the wonderful gifts and messages of support for our precious daughter!