He's puffy and drowsy but safe and sound.

We got to Highlands Clinic bright and early this morning...actually, it's dark at 5:15. There wasn't too much waiting around before Josh was taken to be suited up at 6ish. The surgery was over about 11:30 and he went to his private room at 1. They held him in the recovery room until he showed signs of rousing from the anesthesia. For anyone who's ever had the dubious honor of waking Josh, you know it is a feat in normal circumstances forget about it with heavy medication.

In the room he has a Morphine drip controlled by a hand-held clicker. We are not allowed to click it for him; he has to wake up enough to ask for it and click it himself. Once, he rolled over and moaned so I said, "Josh, do you need some more medicine?" He raised his hand and pumped his thumb in the motion of the Morphine controller as his only reply. He's been a real trooper - he's only had 5 doses in the last 8 hours and he's allowed up to 4 an hour.

He's pretty swollen and his face is wrapped in a special cold pack that circulates icy water. Still, it's amazing how much the shape of his face has already changed. He actually looks a lot more like Aaron...not that Aaron look swollen. His upper jaw moved foward, his lower jaw moved back, and his chin moved up. (They decided they needed to move his chin so they detached it, moved it up, and reattached it with titanium plates - seriously?!) His jaw isn't wired closed but it is held tight with rubber bands in his braces so that he speaks through clenched teeth. He hasn't been awake enough to say much - a "hi" to everyone in the room, requests for pain medication, temperature control comments, and a criticism of a Chili's commercial.

I have a few post-op pictures but I'm going to wait for Josh's consent to post them.