Surgery

Dane had his sinus surgery yesterday. He was very thirsty, since he couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before. When I woke at 6 a.m., he was already fully dressed, sitting in the den watching a movie. Don was on the computer.

"What are you doing up?" I asked, incredulous.

Don snickered. "He's been up for at least an hour," he said. I gawked at Dane.

"I couldn't sleep, Mama. I was too nervous," he said softly.

I understood. I was struggling with the same issue. By the time we left for the surgical center at 8 a.m., he was very thirsty. After 20 minutes or so in pre-op, he asked for a drink. The nurse took full advantage of the opportunity and gave him a cupful of "red courage" - happy juice. And, boy, did he get happy. In fact, quite silly. By the time they took him back at 9:45, he laughed, smiled, and waved goodbye to us.

The doctor had allotted 45 minutes for his surgery. The anesthesiologist told us that an hour was more practical. An hour and 15 minutes later, I was starting to get pretty nervous. But he made it through just fine.

Coming out of the anesthesia was tough. He cried a lot and was in a good deal of pain. They gave him several doses of pain meds, then let us take him home. He had a hard time, asking me to let someone else drive so I could hold him in the van. That wasn't possible. I got him home and settled in my bed with a phone and a drink. Then I went to listen to the answering machine.

Among the well-wishes for Dane was a message from my father that my sister had been taken to the Emergency Room. Turns out, taken by ambulance. She had blood in her urine and they think she has kidney stones. I had to leave Dane with Don, go to her husband work, pick up extra keys to their house (she left hers at home when the ambulance took her to the hospital), then go to the hospital and pressure them to release her (the doctor had written her Release Orders three hours previously and they hadn't done anything about it) and drive her home. I didn't get back home until 5:30 and there were several other problems waiting for me, including a hurtin' little boy.

Dane seems to be unable to really rest. And the less he rests, the more his nose bleeds and the worse he hurts. We put him to bed between Don and I last night because he was a little afraid of being in a room down the hall by himself. Although he slept great, Don and I didn't. By the time he recovers, I'm going to need a week's recovery.

Today I was just getting ready to jump into my chores when I got a call from the school.

"First of all, let me just say that Daelyn's okay," the Principal told me. Uh-oh. That's not a good way to start a conversation.

Daelyn had been in a collision on the playground with another boy and had a gash just below his eyebrow. He needed stitches. I made arrangements for my parents to stay with Dane, then took off to pick up Daelyn and take him to the Pediatrician. They were able to glue him back together, so he didn't have to get numbing shots, thank goodness. The doctor and I both felt like he needed to rest quietly the rest of the day, so I brought him home and tried to get him settled. No luck. Between him and Dane, they kept me hopping.

My 30-minute attempt at a nap was interrupted 6 times - 3 times by phone calls and 3 times by Dane. I'm tired and getting grumpy. And Dane is getting demanding with his requests. I had to caution him today to ask me for a drink nicely instead of barking out "I'm thirsty!"

Maybe I'll get a nap tomorrow. Here's hoping.