Ella woke up in a great mood this morning. She thinks this ‘vacation with dad’ is cool. Even though we woke up at five thirty and she was not allowed to eat anything before surgery she was fine. At the pre op she was measure, weighed, prodded and questioned. It is amazing that after three surgeries, dozens of doctor visits, multiple hospitalizations and medical records the size of a Boeing 737 repair manual, they still ask if Ella was born after a full term pregnancy and whether she has allergies to medication. My theory is that medical records are write only and that it might actually be illegal to read them or at least forbidden by the union. We went over the list I had prepared of what they were going to in surgery. Dr. Bauer said he would not reduce the size of Ella’s ear this time since it would be risky with the reduction of bulk around the ear. This wasn’t consistent with what we understood or what Dr. Bauer had said after the previous surgery, (in fact during the first surgery) . But.. He is doing the surgery. You cannot argue with ‘risky’ but I wish they would give us a consistent plan so our expectations aren’t changed from time to time. I am in the surgical waiting room now waiting for Ella to come out. A familiar, hated situation.