Do Over
I wet and ‘blocked’ the surgical repair (see entry below), and it was all ready to be picked up on Monday.
Due to illness (not mine) the pickup didn’t happen.
I started to fold it up to have it delivered by my DH who was headed that way, when I discovered that the bound off edge that I had repaired was 3″-4″ shorter than the other end! There was not enough elasticity or drape in the bound off edge. 
This means that it would never fold correctly - a condition which I could not allow to continue!
I decided to unravel the repair and reknit it with a stretchier bind off. Since I was unraveling anyway, I wet the yarn and attempted to straighten it, so it would knit more consistently. Arg - acrylics! The yarn was still wavy, although it was way better than my first attempt. The garter edge still looks a little wonky because it won’t lie flat like the rest of the blanket, but I used a different bind off which resulted in an edge that would stretch and drape much like the other side of the blanket! 
It was delivered today. I am glad it is done, and done as well as I can - and that Sam (who I found out turns 4 on Sunday) will have his favorite blanket back tonight.