I'm going to require about an hour to compose and write what I want to say about Bill, Ian, and Sam, so I'll stick a couple of others up first.......starting with this one.

For those of you who predicted great pain and all of that.......you lose, and I'm tickled to death!!! I have no pain at all as far as the mouth goes and just some minor swelling. I have a sore throat from the anesthesia, but that's about it....and with no pain pills!

This couldn't have gone better. We got to the hospital at 6 AM and I was in the O.R. at 7:30. Woke up 3 hours later with a ton of packing in my mouth and nose and groggy, but when we left the hospital at 2 PM, I had only light bleeding and swelling. The swelling should pass in 3-4 days. I even had a half hot dog and an order of fries for lunch!!!

I had to have a clean bill of dental health prior to the heart surgery and now all the work is done. The problem came from years of not going to the dentist and a severe jaw injury that cracked all of my upper teeth. Most of the uppers from the bicuspids back on both sides had, over the years, broken off at the gumline. So this was a major "rehabilitation." They also filled several lowers, and the repaired the upper front teeth....and gave me a nice cleaning to boot. Wayne had a similar situation and went to the dentist for several months, each trip resulting in far more pain that I have now. I got lucky I guess.........and I hope my luck holds for another few weeks.

Thanks to all of you for your fine wishes and now, on to the big one!

Spaw