tonsillectomy

He was nervous about the surgery, but the video games beforehand helped him relax.  He picked root beer scent for his off-to-sleepytown mask and he was looking forward to his root beer slushy afterward.

After the surgery, I went back to be with him as he was coming to.  He was funny.  At first he was out of it.  "Are you my mom?"  Then he was a little out of body.  "I can't feel my hand."  Then he was obsessed with the hospital bed.  When he was first put out the bars were down.  He couldn't figure out how they got up, and why.  He kept saying that he felt like he was in jail.  He also kept saying "How long ago did they put me down?"  Then he got to feeling better and joking a little and the next thing we knew he burst into tears.  The nurse taking care of him had to turn away because it was so hilarious.  She said later how the teenage boys are always the funniest because they are all tough talking about football and the next they are sobbing wanting their moms.

We got him home and I stayed in bed with him.  He slept for a while and when he woke up he wanted to start his John Wayne marathon.  Grandpa Peel loaned him some DVDs, and Drew is loving them.

The other kids have been amazing.  In normal life, they have their moments of bickering and picking at each other, of pushing each other's buttons and fighting.  But, the minute one of them is sick, or hurt, they jump into action.

After school, the girls rushed up to see the patient.  I was making soup and mashed potatoes, and Bev took over the nursing responsibilities.  She took him ice cream and soda.  She exchanged out his ice pack.  She ran him a bubble bath and set out his robe.  She kept asking when he could have his pain medication because he was aching.  She made him a yes/no sign to help him communicate.

Jessi had been playing outside and when she came in, I asked her to sit up and practice her spelling words.  She told me she first needed to do something upstairs.  I asked what.  She said, "I think Drew needs snuggles."  I went to check on him and she was lying next to him with her little arm around his neck watching his John Wayne.

I had a work appointment, so Christian stayed with Drew.  He brought him his DS and found him the neck pillow.  He got him ice water and the Signing Time DVDs.  (It hurts to talk, so Drew has been using sign language and writing on a notebook to communicate.)  Every time Christian walks past him, he asks if he needs anything.

Day three and Drew is pretty sore.  We are keeping up on his pain meds, and keeping him on cold liquids.  I am trying to be patient when he snaps his fingers at me to get my attention.  He wrote down that maybe I could get him a bell.  I think we'll stick with the snapping.

I had my tonsils removed after my mission, and I was miserable, so I can relate to his pain.  Speaking of pain, the morning of day two, he was in lots of it and next thing I knew he started quoting A Knight's Tale, "Pain, lots of pain."  It's good to see he hasn't lost his sense of humor.