<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal">Dear friends and family,</p><p class="MsoNormal">Joe went in for his ileostomy take-down surgery this morning,
to reconnect his intestines from the surgery he had in September of 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We found out only today that the surgeon
was planning to do a laparoscopic procedure, so they wouldn’t have to make a
huge incision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The surgery went
well and Joe is now awake in the ICU.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>He’s groggy, of course, and keeps asking whether they did the
laparoscopy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When I say that they
did, he makes jokes about lap dancing.</p><p class="MsoNormal">He’ll be in the ICU tonight and a few more days in the
hospital while all his innards come back on line.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>The less invasive surgery will make it much easier for him
to recuperate and will probably get him out of the hospital faster.</p><p class="MsoNormal">More news when I have it.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Love, Gay</p>
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