No, we're still here...alive and kicking....and too busy to sit to write, most of the time!
I got to feeling guilty the other day...so many of Alex's life events (even the crazy minor ones) are documented on here...yet Zach, sadly, hasn't had most of those. Maybe he'll be thankful.... ;)
Anywho, Zach had a pretty major undertaking last week....his tonsils and adenoids were taken out, and tubes were put in his ears. All of this started quite a while back, when he was going back and forth between bladder/kidney infections and ear infections. It seemed the kid was constantly on some type of antibiotic. On one of our last appointments to our family doc, she asked, "Have you considered having his tonsils out? They may be holding some of the bacteria that are causing all of these infections."
Andy and I went home, prayed about it, and decided that this needed to be done....despite the craziness that this child .
(Yes, those are his underwear on his head, the day before surgery.) Sigh.
So, August 3, I gave my big-yet-so-very-small-3-year-old over to the nurse and held myself together only long enough for the doors to the OR to close. Then I lost it. In the hospital hallway. With what seemed like 300 people watching me cry. A very nice nurse came over to me, "Would you like a Kleenex, dearie?" I said, "No, I'm fine." (which I obviously wasn't), so she put her arm around me and walked me back to the recovery room, where I would wait for my sweet Zachary to return.
And about 20 minutes later the surgeon came in. I was shocked to see him so quickly! He told me that Zach was incredibly brave - didn't cry at all before the anesthesia kicked in - and the surgery went great. Zach was in the observation room, and they would bring him back to me as soon as he was awake.
15 or so minutes later...I had my baby back. He was incredibly groggy, and his poor voice was raspy. He cried a little, but then settled into my arms and dozed off.
It seemed like every. single. time. that he finally fell asleep, the nurse (who I wasn't too keen on anyways....for other reasons) would come in and wake him up either by talking, taking his blood pressure, temperature, or oxygen levels. I know all of that was necessary....but he just wanted to sleep!! (And I wanted my boy to be comfortable!)
A little while later, another nurse came in and offered to show me his tonsils. They were HUGE!! I am so glad that we elected to have this done now, because I am sure that Zach's breathing/eating/living will be much improved after his recovery is finished. (I have a picture of the tonsils, if you want to see them...I can email/text individually.....not "blog appropriate"....sorry!) :)
A while later, after Zach had a 45 minute nap, they were really pushing for him to eat/drink something. They offered slushies, water, ice chips, popsicles, Sprite....anything his little heart could have wanted. He settled on an orange popsicle.
A short while later, it all came back up. Blech. I think that was one of the worst smelling vomits I've ever dealt with. Ugh. It was really gross.
After that, though, he seemed to perk up. He began to drink more, and even wanted to sit in the chair all by himself. We turned on some cartoons, and he said that he wanted some mac-n-cheese. The kind surgery-assistant-lady (she wasn't a nurse, but kinda ran all over the place) made some just for him. He ate the entire bowl! He also downed most of a can of Sprite, so our nurse deemed us ready to go home.
Plus, look at that face! He looks like he's back to his old self!
While we were waiting for his food to "process" (to make sure it didn't come back up), Zach wanted to walk around. We couldn't get any of his clothes on (he was still in his underwear), so we walked around the surgery center. At first, he was twirling the line from his IV like a jump rope....while I walked behind with the fluid gurney. I could hardly keep up! Then, when he got finished with that, he pulled his little wee-wee out of the "pocket" of his underwear, and walked around like that. (I didn't know he was doing that...I thought he was just walking funny!!) Needless to say, he got smiles from all who saw him....my little exhibitionist!
Finally, our nurse began to ready everything for us to go home. She came in to remove the IV, but didn't have any band-aids with her, so she has all of the tape/dressing off, and the needle just laying there. (another one of my gripes with her)....so, my 3-year-old-who-can't-sit-still pulls the thing out. Blood was everywhere. It looked like a ton, but I am sure it wasn't. I grabbed some tissues and held the spot where his IV was before he pulled it out, and reassured my boy that everything was ok. I think he was freaked out by the blood. When she finally came back, she cleaned him (and me) up, and then he could get dressed.
We were dressed and ready to go at 2:30 Friday afternoon. I was expecting an overnight stay in the hospital, so it was nice to be on our way home! Zach wanted to stop and get drinks for the drive (we live about 90 minutes away from the hospital), so we stopped and he wanted to get a snack, too. The only thing he wanted was goldfish crackers. I cringe just thinking about that. But he ate them....all.
The rest of Friday and all of Saturday were very uneventful. Zach was acting like his normal self...like he hadn't had surgery at all! We were continuing with the meds every 2 hours, as instructed, but he was acting perfectly fine! We were also told to avoid "strenuous activity"....so we played "Walking baseball" in the backyard. It was a hoot!
Sunday, everything changed. Zach was very snuggly, and wanted to be held. At about 11:15, he threw up. Everywhere. and it was BLACK. There also appeared to be clumps of "jelly" in it....blood clots. I called the doctor, he said that as long as it isn't red, we are ok.
So we've been on the uphill climb since then. Zach still complains of his tummy hurting, but I think that it is from his throat. He has been trying to take smaller bites of his food, and that seems to help. I can tell he's hungry, but once he starts to eat, he stops, complaining of the pain. He has been eating popsicles like crazy, so he at least has some fluid in him. We are all eating "soft" foods for meals, so he doesn't feel excluded.
We're still getting "sparks" of our funny little man. The meds are down to every 3 hours now (from every 2 hours), and we see the doctor for the follow up next Monday.
Speaking of next week, Alex begins KINDERGARTEN next Thursday. Where has my little man gone? He is beyond thrilled....he wanted to start in May! His school supplies are ready to go - but he hasn't decided on his outfit yet. :)
So, that's life here...for now!
