Award-winning editor Ellen Datlow underwent surgery today for a staph infection in a London hospital after days of what friends describe as a hospital horror.

From Elizabeth Hand's blog:
Those of you who know Ellen Datlow have probably heard she's been in London Hospital for almost a week, enduring a rather ghastly and extended Orwellian/Kafkaesque nightmare (with overtones of The Singing Detective and Brazil). Last Saturday she was brought to the ER for a leg injury that developed into a staph infection, was admitted to a room for treatment; has been successfully treated with IV antibiotics and since Wednesday has been awaiting a final 30-minute cleanup procedure (ablation and debriding of the wound: an outpatient procedure). The debriding has been put off, day after day, as triage means the surgeon and OR are taken up by emergency patients. The hospital's a vast ancient pile (the gleaming new hospital next door won't open till next year) in Whitechapel; a flu epidemic meant Ellen and other patients have been housed in an old wing that was previously closed but was opened to accommodate them.

Hand goes on to describe Ellen's week-long wait for surgery in what one commenter called, "the creepy hospital."

Cheryl Morgan has reported (on her blog) that Ellen is now out of surgery and resting. We wish her a speedy recovery!

Update: Ellen has been released from the hospital and has posted a note on Elizabeth Hand's blog with an update on her condition and thanks to well-wishers. Thanks to Cheryl Morgan for the update.