Original subtitles

Bill: coming up on "the little couple"...

this past year has been pretty busy.

Jen: we moved to St. Petersburg, Florida.

oh, gosh.

life is always crazy.

you know, we have a lot going on.

stir and stir and stir and stir and stir!

Will and Zoey are having a blast with their new school.

teacher: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!

Zoey is in dance. Will is in cub scouts.

and what rank are you?

you're a wolf?

they're making new friends.

(laughter)

i love carriage rides.

hey, no screaming.

poop?

the horses are stinky. they poop.

Bill: the biggest challenge ahead of us

is Jen's hip-replacement surgery.

her hip is so dangerously close to just failing.

is your hip going to explode?

like, break, fall out, like, dislodge.

knowing all the risks, and you have surgeries,

sometimes you just kind of think, "wow," you know?

"okay, this is number 35," is...

you know, how many times am i going to come out of these okay?

all i do is worry.

i know.

i'm nervous. i just want to make it out the other side.

today, i am having surgery in manhattan.

good luck. i'll see you in a few hours.

-thanks. -okay.

i love you very much. take care of the kids.

i Will.

there's just so many times we can be lucky and blessed.

Bill: i don't know if i'd ever be able to recover

from losing my spouse, so when you think about that,

that worst-case scenario, it puts you in a bad place.

♪

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

captions paid for by discovery communications

♪

♪

♪

Jen: that was mommy's.

you know, what year does it say on there, Will?

-1871. -no.

what does it say, Will?

'92?

so it's christmastime,

and this Will be our first christmas in the new house.

(laughs)

Bill: Will is 8 years old, and he's taller than Jennifer is now.

Zoey just turned 7.

she's growing at a pretty aggressive pace.

a few more inches, and she's as tall as mom, so look out.

so things are just taking off quite, quite splendidly.

-no, no sandwich! -yeah!

-sandwich! -yeah!

no, you'll hurt daddy. you'll hurt daddy, guys.

all right. Zoey, get down.

all right. sandwich is done.

one of the big things that we're doing this

christmas holiday, though, is not really fun.

Jennifer needs hip-replacement surgery.

the doctor said catastrophic event could occur at any time

because her hip is so dangerously close

to just failing.

turns out that as i had my hip replacements now,

you know, a little over 17 years ago,

that the right is, you know, failing,

and so the lining of the plastic between the, you know,

sort of the ball and socket is completely gone,

and the hip itself has dislodged to the edge of the joint,

so what the doctor means is that at any moment, who knows?

it could just kind of come apart, fall out or break,

so i've got to go get it replaced

and hopefully not have that happen before we get it fixed.

when she pulls on this, it pulls the track apart.

it's really hard to keep this track together because it's old.

so we're going to spend a couple of days in new york

before mommy has to go do that stuff,

and we're going to have fun,

and then we're coming back just before christmas.

hey, so do you guys know what we're going to do today?

no.

we are going to meet aunt barbara and uncle jack

for ice cream after lunch.

yay!

only if you don't talk about it.

yay, yay, yay!

it's really great to be here in St. Petersburg.

we've got family here.

my aunt and uncle are still here,

and for many of the years,

we lived far away from almost all of our family,

so this means a lot for both of us.

it's not only where i was born and practically raised,

but it's also where Bill and i,

you know, started our life together.

the next christmas, i...

the next christmas, i want another game,

another nintendo game. -you always want it.

every time, he wants video,

video, video, video, video, video.

-and i want the -- -(burps)

-screen, screen screen! -you burped!

(laughs)

here, give it to me!

(toy whirs)

Will: dad, dad!

oh, look at that.

-yay! (dogs barking)

it's working, and the doggies are going to bark.

(barking)

Bill: you know, christmas from our perspective,

it's a little nostalgic.

(as scotty) i'm giving it all she's got, captain!

-want to see santa? -(wailing)

merry christmas!

(screams)

-here we go. -this is the air.

yay! oh, come on.

and up goes Will the reindeer.

oh, the next, oh!

kind of brings you back to the old days, how fun it was,

so it's kind of neat to be able to share that with my kids now.

-Jen: hey, Will and Zoey! -yay!

mom needs to go through your clothes with you.

do you want to help me? -no.

to make sure you have warm enough stuff for new york?

you know, there's a lot going on.

we're going to new york. we're bringing the kids.

my mom is coming. my nanny is coming.

my husband is coming, and i'm having, like, major surgery,

so it's kind of a little bit going on,

but for me, i think how i deal with it is,

i just have to take it somewhat methodically,

one thing at a time.

i worry, but i know that i can't let it completely get to me

because i have -- i've got to do this.

-not yet, Zoey. -come in the bathroom with me.

come with me. let's go fix your hair.

♪

all right. you guys buckled still?

Zoey, you've got to hold onto rocky tight so he doesn't fall.

Bill: is that better?

-yeah. -yeah.

♪

one of the great things about living in St. Petersburg now

is that we're really close to my aunt barbara and uncle jack,

and they are nice enough to be Willing to watch the pups

while we're in new york.

we thought it would be a fun way to hand off to go out

for ice cream with them and spend a little bit of time

before i go under the knife, so to speak.

all the surgeries that we had.

yeah, you were born for some of it.

ew, i smell somebody.

yeah, that's not roses, huh?

did someone went poo-poo in the car?

not me!

wait a second, i know who it is.

is that rocky? rocky, i'm going to smell you.

ew, yes, it's definitely rocky. he couldn't hold it.

♪

William, not in the road.

is rocky pooping right there?

he's doing whatever he wants to do.

oh, boy.

yep, oh, yeah, he just dropped a log.

oh, rocky! oh, we're so going to get kicked out.

a dog's favorite thing is to pee,

poop and eat and sleep and howl and bark.

wait.

ding-a-ding-a-ding.

to see aunt barbara and uncle jack?

to see aunt barbara and uncle jack.

hey!

-hey, how are you? -oh, what's that?

good to see you. what's going on?

-i know. hey, jack! -how's it going?

good to see you.

Jen: my aunt barbara has been very close

to my brother and i growing up.

my mom sort of had a lot of support

between her mom and her two sisters.

i mean, we were just a very tight-knit, close family,

so i've remained close to my aunt barbara ever since.

she's been there through a lot of these surgeries.

she's, you know, seen me go through this a lot,

and i know that she'll be around,

you know, for whatever i need.

let's see here. what would you like?

cotton candy with skittles in a milkshake, is that possible?

sure. yeah, that's fine.

-okay. -Zoey: and, daddy, daddy.

sounds horrible.

daddy, i want mint chocolate chip.

mint chocolate chip? in a shake?

yeah, mint chocolate chip, the milkshake, and...

-the milkshake. -and put it in the cup.

chocolate and chocolate-chip milkshake

and chocolate-and-peanut butter ice cream.

-peanut butter? -hey!

-maggie! -hey, Zoey?

we cannot let the dogs go over to other people.

barbara: you just got to keep her close to you,

so she doesn't bother people.

that's all. apprehensive? or...

of course i'm a little nervous, but not much i can do about it.

i don't have much choice.

and your mom is going to be with you, and you guys

kind of have this down pat?

it's been many years. it's been, what, 17?

yeah, but, you know, forget that.

hip surgery, so it's been a while, right?

you know, it's scary. i worry.

you don't like talking about it, but...

-i know. -in a way,

i'm so grateful to have this technology.

-i know. -you know?

because you've got a little, tiny hip,

and you've somebody can form that hip just to you.

your mother told me the doctor

can't believe that you're upright.

he didn't say that, but he just is worried

that i could have a catastrophic event at any moment.

what does he mean by catastrophic event?

is your hip going to explode?

like, break, fall out, like, dislodge.

Bill: like, the whole thing just kind of dismantles.

Bill: you have to remember that Jennifer and i

both have been through multiple surgeries

because skeletal dysplasia, it's a skeletal deformity.

there is chronic discomfort and pain

that's normally associated with a problem

with the way that you grow.

if you had a tree, and you had to keep

changing the way it grows

so that it continued to grow straight,

that's sort of what you need to do with all of our bones.

being short is actually the least of the problems

associated with having skeletal dysplasia,

but the reality is, is that it's, you know, it's torture.

-all i do is worry. -yeah, i know.

now are they going to bring you home

and let you have a wheelchair,

or are you just supposed to be walking around?

probably crutches for at least...

-oh, definitely crutches... -...6 weeks.

-...if not a walker. -yeah, i might be on a walker.

Jen: after surgery, they Will start physical therapy on me

for at least 6 weeks with a walker to start,

and then, you know, hopefully, i'll get to master crutches

until i'm all done with the healing process.

so you won't work for 6 weeks?

no, i probably Will go back to work.

it'd just be limited.

Bill: yeah.

dogs aren't going to come to new york.

that's why we're here.

we're going to give the dogs to aunt barbara and uncle jack

for a week because we're not going to be able to watch them.

no. they're coming back to my house.

to meet you, to pick up the dogs.

because we wanted ice cream.

no.

no, no, no.

-what does he want for dinner? -he wants to eat here.

(laughter)

i definitely don't like surgery.

i definitely don't want to do this, but the good news is,

we're going to plan a day of fun before.

yeah, you can go.

so no surgery yet, just family time in manhattan.

(indistinct conversations)

who's going to get your glasses?

oh, i don't know. do i have to loosen them?

pretty soon.

going under the knife, it gets worse every single time.

i'm a high-risk patient,

so it was very hard to not have anxiety.

-ready? -ready.

she goes through so, so much.

there's just so many times we can be lucky.

-love you, love you. -i love you.

♪

carry those down for me, and i'm going to put them in my bag.

-okay, i'm leaving. -all right.

well, we don't know where dad is. Bill?

all right. we've got to turn off --

i've got to turn off -- wait.

i've got to turn off more lights.

barbara: oh, wait, we can't go.

Jen: today is the day that we have to leave for new york,

and i don't have a lot of time to finish packing

and make sure we get everybody to the airport on time.

wrong way. wrong way, sam.

other way, other way. -turning out the lights.

you know, it's kind of crazy and particularly

with my going to have surgery.

i've been a patient all of my life,

and it never gets any easier.

i'm nervous.

of course i'm worried about most of the complications of surgery,

you know, so risk of infection, the risk of bleeding,

the risk of death.

you know, i mean, all these things are there.

bad things can happen at any time,

so you have to be prepared for that.

what's in your mouth?

candy? -we've had lots of sugar.

yeah, not good.

just so you know.

not good.

Bill: to aid in our adventure, we decided to bring judy,

Jen's mom, and kate, our nanny, along for the ride to help out.

mom, can you help me with these?

i can help you with ever you need.

-all this glittery... -no more christmas.

we'll be back, hopefully.

hopefully, i'll be back.

you'll be back. don't even think that.

my daughter has had over 30 surgeries.

it started when she was 2.

orthopedic surgeries are not easy --

a longer recovery time, a lot, a lot of pain

because you're cutting through the muscle and the bone,

and i pray that my grandchildren don't have to go through that.

you know, they may have to, and i'll be there for them,

but i hope and pray that

they'll have a much easier youth.

all right. what are they doing?

i have no idea.

go get them, you're the dad.

-yo! -thank you.

let's go!

Bill: you know, Jen's surgery aside,

i'm kind of excited because as a new yorker,

a proud new yorker, i love christmastime in new york.

it's -- there is no other place

that you can be that makes it feel that way.

oh, of course.

i'm going to take that with me.

-oh, okay. -whee!

time to leave for the airport, my app is telling me.

Bill: packing up and leaving, i certainly feel for Jen.

-car is all ready, dude. -all right.

i've been in her position so many times.

i know what that anxiety is like.

your heart starts to sink.

your stomach starts to growl,

and for Jennifer in particular because she got two kids.

she's got a spouse. she's got a big job.

she's got a lot of people that depend on her,

and she's made it so far through all these surgeries.

you know, it's so much more stressful.

Bill: yeah?

isn't santa claus coming?

i think you need to write it down and mail it to santa soon.

Jen: you know, my family growing up, our tradition

was always to do something fun the night before surgery.

judy: mommy, tomorrow is your fun day.

-tomorrow is my day of fun. -yeah.

so tomorrow morning, we're going to do what most, i think,

tourists do when they're in new york around christmastime

and, you know, do a little shopping,

so we're taking the kids to f.a.o. schwarz,

which i'm very excited about.

it's such a classic place to go to.

you're not, but mommy is.

mm-hmm.

just like you did when you had surgery.

depends on until the doctor says i'm ready to go home.

i'm having a big operation, so...

judy: when you see your child go into surgery,

it's...it's hard sometimes

to think about how many times

i put my daughter through all this.

she remembers all the pain,

and i'm sure Jen is concerned about going into surgery.

she's a mother. she's a physician.

she knows what could happen more than so than anybody,

you know, as far as the doctors go.

she knows what could happen.

with the new prosthetic device is a higher risk of clots

than it is with other surgeries, per se.

why?

because it's a new instrumentation.

the one that they're using on you?

just in general.

Jen: i'm very grateful for my mom.

i'm overwhelmed when i think about the strength

that she had to have dealing with all those surgeries

because she knew it was risky,

and she had to, you know, lose control for some time

and now with getting to the airport,

being in the car with everybody definitely makes it more real,

and i'm sure she's like me, a little bit too thinking,

"well, okay, hopefully we get lucky again." you know?

how many times can you, you know,

do well if you have had so many surgeries?

you start to feel like the odds might start

to turn out of your favor.

-wait, wait. -wait a minute.

judy: we have to check in, don't we?

we have a lot of bags to check in, yep!

but at the same time, you know,

i think you've got to focus on the positive, you know?

hope for the best, plan for the worst but hope for the best.

do we have all the bags? -yeah.

-mine too? -yep.

okay.

well, maybe not yours but everybody else's.

aw.

♪

♪

♪

Bill: i want you to get out,

and i want you to stand right by the box there.

Jen: go ahead, kate, because Zoey can help...

Jen: we're in new york city,

and it's the day before my surgery tomorrow.

i definitely don't like surgery.

i definitely don't want to do this.

i'm nervous about it, but i have a hip that's failing,

so i really have no choice.

right now my goal is to push it out of my brain.

you know, the good news is we're going to plan

a day of fun before,

and so we decided to take the kids

on a little excursion of our own

and give my mom a little time to herself,

so no surgery yet, just family time in manhattan.

-thank you. -all right. here we go.

Bill: i love being in new york.

it's my hometown.

Jen: wow.

you know, it's a great place to me.

wow, hey, see?

they're dressed up like soldiers.

how are you guys today?

Bill: we should have had our heads checked

because we decided to go to the busiest toy store

in the world during the busiest time of the year.

Bill: holy cow. that's pretty cool.

yeah, you could go.

(indistinct conversations)

holy cow.

that's quite a train set.

that is a nice train set.

(indistinct conversations)

Bill: we tried to make this trip as fun as possible

and, you know, we all understand

what Jen is going to be headed in for,

so it's still tense and still worrisome and...

but Jen chose to not hang our hat on all the bummer stuff,

surgery and pain and all that because what choice do you have?

no, no, no, no, no, we'll show him.

we'll show him. don't pick it up.

laser tag. -oh, wow.

-mommy had that. -i had one of those!

-me too. -yeah!

Zoey, you might like those baby dolls.

-oh, yeah, Zoey, Zoey! -come here, zo.

check this out!

look at these babies. they're so cute.

oh, and a tea set!

look at that!

oh, my goodness.

the hard part is, is that we're trying to have this fun day

with the kids and of course, i want to spoil them

because i know i'm going in for surgery the next day.

can you have one?

well, you get to pick out a toy

while you're here from mom and dad, right?

are you sure you want a tea set as your toy?

you have some tea stuff.

-oh! -okay.

but it's also, like, a week before christmas,

so we didn't really want them to go crazy,

so we promised them they could pick out one thing each, right?

so, yeah. christmas spirit.

that's right.

man: can you help me out with a trick?

i want you to squeeze that ball as tight as you can.

don't let it go anywhere. watch this one.

this one jumps, too, but not behind your ear.

that one goes in your hand.

open it up, you got them both.

my favorite part was definitely the magic guy.

he was doing some pretty cool magic that got

Will into it. -yeah, that was fun.

i mean, i like -- i like just hanging out.

it just kind of puts you in the mood, you know?

yeah, it definitely gets you in that sort of holiday spirit.

you know, shopping and...

i don't mean, like, weird.

(laughs)

not that kind of mood. -right, yeah.

(indistinct conversations)

no, stop playing with it.

all right. stop playing with it.

put your head down a little bit.

Jen: Zoey, do you want to go on the piano and play?

i think what Bill and i were

kind of the most excited about --

we remember the movie "big."

we were excited to see the giant piano.

all right. guys, we're next.

Jen: all right. go, Will, it says it's go.

Bill: oh, yeah, here we go.

toast that mommy is going to be

better and stronger after tomorrow.

Jen: oh, my goodness, knowing all the risks when you have surgery.

okay, this is number 35.

you know, how many times am i going to come out of these okay?

yeah.

♪

Jen: Zoey, do you want to go on the piano and play?

we are at the toy store, and i'm definitely excited

to see them having fun on that giant piano.

all right. guys, we're next.

all right. go, Will, it says it's go.

Bill: oh, yeah, here we go.

♪

oh, yay!

♪

(laughter)

kids got their shoes off and, you know,

kind of like marched onto the piano.

it was really cute, you know?

i don't remember ever getting along with my siblings

as well as they get along.

it's really cool to see, and they got a chance

to reenact that movie "big,"

and i think they did better than tom hanks.

woman: good job!

thank you! yay, thank you.

(cheers and applause)

it was a lot of fun.

the kids got to pick out a couple of toys.

we didn't go too crazy.

mom wanted to have some fun, too,

knowing that she's going to be in not the best of spirits.

you know, once surgery comes,

she's not going to be able to get on the floor

and play with the kids with their new toys at home

and, you know, all that fun stuff,

so she took advantage while she was able-bodied.

all right. you ready?

-yeah. -okay.

all right. let's get moving to the next place.

♪

♪

-you're good. -come on.

whoa. all right. stay close.

after f.a.o. schwarz, we decided we're going to go

to a cool little italian place

right in the heart of little italy.

we are hungry.

okay, we've got to wait for the family.

they're coming.

it's very typical -- loud, smells like tomato sauce.

it's just a lot of fun.

-hello! -how are you doing?

good, thank you. thank you.

Jen: fortunately, Bill's mom and stepdad, chuck and barbara,

were able to come and have some fun with us today.

they live in long island, so they came in for the 2 days.

i'm pretty lucky.

oh, my god.

think they gave enough bread or what?

this is good stuff. all right.

that's it right there.

you've got dinner -- bread and salad.

no, we're getting more.

Bill: there are certain things that we do to memorialize the occasion,

and my wife calls the night before surgery the last supper.

it has nothing to do with jesus, just has to do with the fact

that, you know, "if i'm gone tomorrow,

i'd better make sure that i had a good meal before i go."

-toast. -okay, a toast.

toast that mommy is going to be

better and stronger after tomorrow.

i'm all for that. cheers.

Bill: we try to bring our parents or friends

because you don't know what's going to happen in surgery,

you know, what could go wrong,

so the goal is to play as long into the night as possible

so that it keeps your mind off

of what you have to deal with tomorrow.

i mean, for my last surgery, we all drank too much,

and i was way too dehydrated for the surgery.

it was closer to being a last supper

because i did that, but it was a lot of fun.

well, kate is going to come over,

and she'll be with you because mommy

is going to the hospital for my surgery.

thank you.

Bill: are you guys going to wake up really early

to say good-bye to mom when she goes off for surgery?

well, we should let you know that the hospital

has a new policy

that you're not going to be able to come into the hospital

to see mom while she's there.

well, she's going to be there for probably 5 to 7 days

that you're not going to be able to go and see her.

i know. i'm going to miss you guys.

that's why i'm so sad.

yeah.

no, not this time, it's not my tummy. it's my leg.

i'll be asleep. i won't realize it.

you're right. i won't know it.

Will and Zoey may not completely understand

what to expect tomorrow,

and the fact that i'm going to be away from them

for my entire post-op period in the hospital

definitely makes me sad, but this is a week,

and as long as i come out of surgery fine, they'll...

this Will be a blip on the radar that they won't really remember,

so that helps to, you know, rationally reassure me.

you want to do prayer for dinner first?

all right. here we go. come on.

-all right. i have to do this. -okay.

amen.

soon, yes, amen. thank you, Zoey.

cheers, love.

you know, i've been a patient for most of my life,

and then i've also been a physician,

so i've seen both sides of the scalpels,

and knowing all the risks when you have surgery,

sometimes you just kind of think "wow," you know?

"okay, this is number 35."

you know, how many times am i going to come out of these okay?

so i'm just thinking about how sweet my kids are

and how much i love them,

and i don't want to leave them tomorrow,

so we have no choice but for things to go well tomorrow.

here is to the family for making the trip

to be here with all of us.

-thank you. -thank you, guys, for coming.

love you, love you, love you, love you to the moon and back!

to good health and to a speedy recovery.

yep, yeah.

you want to come over and hold my hand?

Bill: people die on the operating table all the time,

and you can't help but think about that.

look at me, look at me.

part of me is just sick to my stomach

that i'm watching her have to go through it.

♪

look how pretty this is, guys.

see the trees in the park and the buildings behind?

yeah, it's a park. it's called central park.

can you say central park?

that's right.

the end of our evening, so to speak,

in terms of fun activities,

we decided to do a carriage ride.

(horse neighs)

did you hear the whinny?

dad, dad, did you hear me?

(imitating horse)

Bill: Jennifer and i have been going on carriage rides

in new york probably since before we were married.

i highly recommend going through central park.

if you can do it in the winter when it's snowing, very pretty.

it is cold.

everyone use your blanket, stay warm.

ah, it's good to be the daddy. i'm all warm over here.

♪

hey, no screaming.

you see poop?

wait, i'm on the same side as you, aha.

poop on my side is poop on your side.

Jen: we love carriage rides. i love them.

you get to see the beautiful city.

it's picturesque.

you're all snuggled up.

what?

and then there's the other part.

horses are stinky. they poop.

you know, that's gross, but i don't care.

still, i'm enjoying the carriage ride.

hey, Will, bundle up, honey.

oh, wow, good to know.

you guys have your christmas lists all done?

-yeah. -Zoey, what do you want?

so i want hat more.

-aw. -aw, so sweet.

-thank you, sweetheart. -oh, thank you, so sweet of you.

that was really nice.

Jen: by the time of the carriage ride, it was dark,

so it starts to become clear

that you're getting closer to surgery

because, you know, whether the sun comes up again,

that's surgery day, but still trying to enjoy,

you know, kind of not wanting the party to end, so to speak.

that is the downside of partying the day before surgery

is that eventually, the party comes to and end.

yeah, yeah, yeah.

you getting nervous or what? you are hours away.

i'm nervous, but i'm going to be nervous regardless.

focus on the afternoon when you're out.

this time tomorrow, you're done.

-mommy? -yes, yes?

are you nervous tomorrow, for tomorrow?

yes, i am.

Bill: of course i'm nervous.

i'm nervous as can be.

i don't like Jennifer going for surgery.

she's been through too much already, you know?

she's had her orthopedic stuff, and she had her cancer stuff,

and that was terrible and, you know,

we made it through, but it was not something

i would, you know, wish on my worst enemy.

i want you to be brave for your mom, okay?

are you going to pray for mommy?

say a prayer for mommy?

mommy needs to live a long time to see you guys grow up.

but we have to deal with that and try and get our emotions

in check and, you know, wipe your tears away

and, you know, be strong.

i'll do the surgery for you tomorrow.

you take the kids.

you can't.

no, but i want you to.

trust me, i wish i could.

in a moment, i would do it.

i wouldn't even have to think about it.

♪

♪

♪

Jen: today i am having surgery in manhattan.

thank you. -hey, guys.

good morning. how are you?

good morning.

morning. good morning.

good morning.

i'm a little worried but going into the hospital,

i've got all my family here.

i've got tremendous amount of love and support.

the important thing is to make sure

everybody is as prepared as possible

to hopefully have a successful and safe surgery.

this is where we'll be waiting for you.

yep.

i remember waiting for you there.

thank you.

awesome.

come on in, mom and chuck and barbara.

they're not going to let everybody stay.

Bill: it's good to have family around.

i said, "i'm the mom. i'm not leaving."

Jen's mom came up. my mom and stepdad came in.

the kids and kate Will be around in city eating lunch

and going to different places, shopping and stuff,

so it kept them occupied, which is good.

-pretty outside. -i wish i could be in there

and hold your hand through the whole thing.

thank you.

hopefully i won't be awake when they do anything.

that's the goal, right?

you know, before surgery, obviously, you know, feeling

a little twist in my stomach, quite a bit of butterflies,

but i also know what can go wrong

in terms of managing a critical situation.

i mean, that's what i train people in sim about.

good morning. hi, nice to see you.

nice to see you, too.

i just have a few questions for you, okay?

sure, come on in.

Bill, you're going to get all the updates today

when dr. bostrom is all done with the surgery.

yes, please, yes.

do you guys ever, like, update during surgery?

like intubation because that's my big worry.

got it, we can actually speak to dr. bostrom.

he can place a call to the waiting area,

and we'll pass the info along to Bill, okay?

-great. -yeah.

as part of my skeletal dysplasia,

i have a pretty complicated airway,

and i've been fused at the cervical spine,

and that means they can't manipulate my neck

as well as they could anyone else to try

and get that perfect angle to visualize

how to get the breathing tube from the mouth into the lungs,

so i'm a high-risk patient.

thank you, chuck.

oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.

see you in a little bit.

all right.

love you, thank you.

my surgery for my first hip replacements,

the anesthesiologist told me it took them an hour

to get a breathing tube in,

and i remember waking up during it.

it was so painful and very traumatic.

you okay? -yeah, yeah.

don't make me worry about you.

so of course, i've been...

you know, this is what i worry about the most,

so i've just got to hope for the best.

♪

Bill: today i am having surgery in manhattan

and going under the knife, it gets worse every single time,

so it was very hard to not have anxiety.

-good morning. -hey, good morning.

-how are you? -good, how are you?

-good. -good to see you.

-Bill, how are you? -good morning, sir.

-you look awake. -good to see you.

yep, got the whole crew here.

yeah, this is my mom, dr. bostrom.

(indistinct conversations)

my name is mathias bostrom.

i'm orthopedic surgeon here

at the hospital for special surgery.

-you all set? -all right.

i think so. -good.

we'll be revising Jen's right hip,

which has been in place for many years and unfortunately,

looks like one of the components is loose,

and the other part is really worn out.

do you think there's a good chance of full replacement

as opposed to?

i think so. i mean, i think the liner,

we're going to be okay with, and so i don't --

i'm hoping i don't have to take that cup out

to change the plastic liner in.

certainly all the studies show

that the femoral component is probably loose.

it is, yeah.

and that's why you're having it, i think, so...

and we have a good plan.

we have an implant that's going to fit.

we have to sort of custom make it a little bit.

and we know how to do that. -okay.

i worry about the technical aspects of the surgery,

making sure the components fit.

we have to have very special components

available to fit her size,

and she has a very difficult airway,

and so we have real concerns from an anesthetic standpoint.

you want come over and hold my hands, anyone?

-i'm trying to distract you. -yes, yes, yes.

don't worry, we'll make it a family affair.

-not just a stick, it's an iv. -i'll watch her, Jen.

okay, yeah, don't stress her out, though.

look at me. look at me.

you be nice and relaxed.

Bill: you know, there's different sets of risks

associated with any major surgery,

and skeletal dysplasia complicates things.

we metabolize medications at a different rate,

so it's hard to tell whether or not

you have enough or not enough,

and you really want to have just enough when you're having,

you know, your leg cut open, so that you don't feel it,

but not too much to where you never feel it again

ever so, you know, there's those concerns.

who's going to get your glasses?

oh, i don't know. do i have to loosen them?

pretty soon. you're going to be napping pretty soon.

-okay. -let me get out of your way.

no worries.

hold on. all of a sudden, did you start going more?

yeah, i opened it up wide...

i think you frightened her, doctor.

(indistinct conversations)

all right. so they're going about to make me la-la, so...

i'm nervous. i just want to make it out the other side.

Bill: part of me knows exactly what it feels like,

and part of me is just sick to my stomach

that i'm watching her have to go through it.

people die on the operating table all the time,

and you can't help but think about that a little bit

because that's the only thing you're able to think about.

there's nothing else going on.

just don't lean on my iv. like that.

don't worry, though, they'll put another one in.

you've already got your medication. you're fine.

good luck, i'll see you in a few hours.

yeah, love you very much. take care of the kids.

i Will.

i Will.

shut up, shut up.

she's going to be asleep.

i love you, baby.

yes.

see you when you get out.

love you, love you. love you.

-yeah, you good? -i'm good.

thank you. back in the saddle again.

yeah, i know. you'll be fine.

like i said, pick a place we can go out dancing.

-ready? -ready.

all right. cool.

i'm still coherent, which is good.

-good. -see you when i wake up.

Bill: i've been in her position so many times.

for a brief moment, you think about your mortality.

you think about what if something goes wrong?

you know, are my affairs in order?

i don't know if i'd ever be able to recover

from losing my spouse,

so when you think about that worst-case scenario, it just...

it puts you in a bad place.

you're in charge.

-i am in charge. -you're in charge.

she apologized.

she's such a good soul,

and she goes through so, so much.

barbara: but that's why they are who they are.

but there's just so many times we can be lucky

and blessed that... i know, but...

don't even go there...

-but you still get... -...'cause i can't go there.

Bill: skeletal dysplasia is tough.

it poses a lot of problems,

but you can live a completely healthy normal life

if you don't get bogged down in the tough stuff,

and that only happens if i stay healthy

and if my wife stays healthy,

so you keep doing what we've got to do,

and that's pretty much all i focus on.

everybody couldn't go through what they go through

and then to have the spirit that they have...

she's an angel.

she's got the can-do, Will-do ethic,

and that's what both of us raised our kids to have.