I like it when a plan comes together

His bags are packed.

His toothbrush is in his dopp kit.

His reservation at the Yale Hilton is confirmed.

"Yale Hilton?," you ask, quizically. "I didn't know that Yale has a Hilton hotel on it's campus."

And you would be right. It doesn't. That's what Eric has taken to calling the New Haven/Yale Hospital and Medical Center.

Yale Hilton is a lot easier to say than the New Haven/Yale Hospital and Medical Center. Don'tcha think?

So, our boy heads out. Tomorrow.

"Tomorrow?," you ask. Yep, tomorrow.

The partial depth skin graft on his feet is scheduled for Friday morning. The doctors reported that they expect to keep him in the hospital through Wednesday. The graft, he says, should take about 6 to 8 weeks to heal.

After the feet are adequately healed, he will go off to the rehabilitation hospital and start therapy. The way it looks to play out, he should start therapy in November.

"So," I ask, in a sort of an acerbic, playful way. "Any plans for October?"

Turns out, the joke's on me. He goes in for hand surgery on October 1st.

The hand specialist wants to decompress the nerves in his left hand and move some muscles and tendons in his left arm to see if they can improve the functionality of Eric's left hand.

"Oh," is all I could come back with. "Well, okay, then."

"Actually," Eric shares. "It works out perfectly."

Here comes the spin...the famous Eric Spin.

John Wayne has his trademark Swagger. Ricardo Montalbán? The classic "Corinthian Leather."

Eric has his Spin. So, let's hear it:

The hand surgeon expects the recovery to take about a month. Right around the same time that the doctors expect his feet to heal before he starts therapy.

This way, he can start working on both therapies at the same time.

"I like it when a plan comes together," he says.

"Not too much spin this time," I think to myself. "Kinda makes sense." I was flummoxed.

"Oh," I said. "Well, okay, then."

So flummoxed, I forget to ask the important questions. Like: how long will therapy take? will you get to go home for holidays? how are the kids taking the news? do you think the Tigers will make it in to the post-season?

I guess I'll have to find out later...