Busy Two Weeks

I haven't had time to post about anything the past week and a half. Super Hero had shoulder surgery on May 21st and I've barely had time to do anything except take care of him (drive him around), cook, clean and do school with Holland. The last post was about our jet boat ride on the Willamette and that was the day after (I post about the important things) his surgery. We totally needed a break and he just slept all day anyway. I realized how much I depended on him when he couldn't help out. Getting the kids dinner; getting them to bed; cleaning up at night. I'm totally exhausted and he's still pretty much out of commission. He has to have physical therapy every day for three weeks to make sure his shoulder doesn't freeze up again. And a few days I had to drive him (and bring everyone else in the process) because he was taking Percocet. You know what they say "do not operate heavy machinery". Crud. That means cars. So we'd pile in the car and drive dad to his appointment.

He went back to work on Thursday (which I thought was too early). He's still very sore, but he's itching to get going on some projects at work and felt he needed to get back. The day he had his post-op appointment, Holland had an appointment with a neurologist; Egypt had an eye doctor appointment and he also had a physical therapy appointment. That was one crazy day. We found out that Holland is getting migraines. We're supposed to try getting him more aerobic type exercise. I told the dr. he's really 'busy' but she said he needs more "sweat" activity. We did walk around a park only one day this week. But at least it was once. It's just too hard with Egypt in a jogger stroller. She wants to walk/run/play and Holland is complaining he's bored. He also might be getting the migraines from stress. Did you even know kids could get migraines from stress? I'll be sure to eliminate all that stress for him. Right after I do that for me. I had a migraine that lasted 16 hours one day. I literally felt I couldn't drive to pick up Romania from the bus stop. But who's gonna do it? So, you just suck it up and do what you gotta do.

So if you noticed that Egypt had an eye appointment the same day as Super Hero and Holland, you probably figured out I was a driver short for that. I had to get my mom to take her for her 3 month check up. This appointment takes a little longer because they dilate her eyes and look more closely for the infection that can result from the JRA. She's fine - just nearsighted which he said not to worry about until she's school-age.

So I am really tired from all this activity. All I want to do is sew. I have people that have asked me to sew them ruffle pants or make a head scarf - and I haven't had time to do it. I'm assuming people with jobs outside the home totally ignore their kids. How else would they do everything? As a tribute to trying to do it all (or just the laundry at least), I turned one of my good white T-shirts pink today. I save a whole load of red laundry to do together and forgot to pull out a white shirt that I wore under a red sweatshirt. See? One person just cannot do it all. But now I have a nice pink T-shirt to wear. I really didn't want a pink T-shirt.

A Tour of the Hospital

Today I picked Holland up from school and we went over to the hospital to pre-register and to take a tour of where he'll be having surgery. The nurse who called me yesterday said that kids really benefit from seeing where they will be and getting familiar with all the equipment and meeting staff. I was planning to tell him on Sunday, but felt he would really benefit from seeing all this. He wants to live there now.

After a boring 45 minutes of answering questions and filling out forms, we were taken over to the pediatric unit and given a great tour of all the rooms he'd be in and even got to peek into the O.R. He'll be staying overnight and we got to see the kind of room he'd be in after surgery. The most important part of his recovery is he has to stay flat for 24 hours or he could get a spinal headache. My mom had this kind of headache after delivering her children. It's not a fun thing to experience so I'm really hoping he stays down. The most thrilling thing for him (his eyes looked like big saucers after he heard this) was finding out they have Nintendo, Game Cube and countless cable channels of television for him. He gets to lay in bed and play Game Cube. He wants to move in there.

I asked if there was anything special to eat he wanted me to bring. He said, "tacos and a big can of corn." What a sensible guy.

Finally, an answer and a decision

One more post today. I think three posts in one day is crazy enough. But here goes.
I got a call from the microneurosurgeon's office today. We are scheduled for surgery on Monday, January 14th. She's sending the paperwork for check-in. It will seem more real this weekend, I'm sure. I checked with my pediatrician, who has caught all of Holland's issues early on. I trust her opinion about these things and she has said she believes it's the right decision.

The surgery takes a couple of hours and I get to stay in the hospital with him. I'm so grateful for that. I'm looking forward to hospital bed-head. He goes home on Tuesday and should be up and around in three to four days. It's so nice to have an end in sight. Of course, I am still praying for total healing before this!