Gary Gross was the first to post the following e-mail from King's wife, Barbara:

King had his gall bladder removed but needed the major incision for which his hospitalization will be prolonged until Thursday or Friday.

Apparently, it was very infected.

Barring complications, he will recuperate on the 4th floor of the hospital.

I�ll continue to keep you posted; meantime, what a blessing the Blogosphere has been. I can�t thank you enough,

Barbara

We are all extremely thankful and relieved at this good news, and wish King and his family the best.

Update April 30.

King is recovering satisfactorily. Thanks to all of you who sent wishes of a successful operation and healthy recovery. All your comments were copied and sent to his wife, Barb. If you care to post any more comments, those two will be forwarded.

Again, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

UPDATE (11am): Many thanks to all of you. I just took the most tiring, most exciting 10-minute, 150 foot walk ever taken by this human being and found I had a wire for my laptop here. I am shocked beyond words at the outpouring of friendship shown me the last few days by you all on the comments, in other posts and people who've come by the hospital so far. I'm a little too weak to do lots of blogging, so this is all for today most likely. I'll tell you the rest of the story sometime. But when I tell people that virtual friends can be just as vital as those in real time, your comments, thoughts and prayers will be Exhibit A for the prosecution. God blesses me with your friendship. --kb

Update Thursday, May 1

King continues to do well. Most pain is gone. He's taking short walks. He gets solid food this morning. Toast never tasted so good! Again, thanks to all.