It is healing so well. Most of the swelling and bruising is gone. The doc said she was very happy with the way it looked. She said the rest of the swelling will go away soon and thinks it's going to look symmetrical (not a guarantee with this type of surgery). My heartstrings are being pulled every which way. I adore how he looked before and how he'd look at me. Now I adore how he looks and how he looks at me all over again. And he's just so sweet. *gush*
Willon seemed to take most of it in stride except not being able to eat or drink for so long. It was easy to distract him once we got to the surgical center but the ride there produced a few tears. Once there he discovered a new toy I bought him and all went well after that.
Here he is in pre-op, getting weighed and measured. The nurses thought he was pretty cute you can imagine.
All dressed down and hamming for the camera. I tell him to give me a smile and this is what I get.
We played with his new train for almost the whole hour we had to sit there waiting our turn. He got a little restless so I pulled out the new school bus. This augmented the train set quite well, fortunately.
The Doc came in to talk to us briefly. Willon was a little shy but she got him to give her five. Spoke with the anesthesiologist after that.
Just when I thought he couldn't take waiting any longer I turned on the TV to PBS. What do you think was playing but his favorite new online activity, Dinosaur Train! He's never seen the show, of course, as we have no TV reception at our house. It illicited reactions from him I have never seen. Usually he'd be shouting the show play-by-play to me as he watched. This whole set of expressions had me rolling on the floor laughing (inside). I've never seen him do any of this before.
His surgical nurse came in to introduce herself. I took their picture, gave him a kiss and off he went - kinda sudden-like - but he never looked back.
Rob came to meet me in the meantime and we waited together. Willon was the third person in that morning. Rob and I sat and watched as a full half dozen families were called in to see their loved ones before it was our turn. That was a little disconcerting but we waited patiently enough.
When they finally called us in and brought us back to see him Willon was still asleep from the anesthesia. He looked so tiny in that big ol' bed.
This next one is a little graphic. His eye was pretty swollen. They don't go very deep when they put them under that way and I noticed he was frowning in his sleep. Poor guy.
He woke up in a frenzied state. I was more than a little worried about him but the nurse said he could have nu-nu as much as he wanted and he did.
My boy was a real trooper today. He had some kind of hyper reaction to the Demoral later but for the most part he took the whole experience in stride.
Later, after he'd calmed down, taken something for pain, and we were back in the car he had something to eat. Poor kid was starving! I gave him pretzels and cookies to start then took him out for lunch. But first - LOL - we had to stop at the bank.
Lastly, a special thanks to Mitzi at Dr. Lenahan's office for her hard work getting our insurance and appointments squared away. Mitzi rocks.
Rhetta's school has a back-to-school carnival fundraiser every year. This was our second year going. It consists of buying tickets to redeem at various tables to play games, have your face painted,
get cotton candy (Willon's first ever),
do a cake walk (which we skipped), bounce in a jumpy thing,
plus there's a BBQ. We had a very nice time. We got to sit and eat with her SPED teacher who always has an involved conversation with Willon, (that's a Panther Paw on his cheek)
and just generally had a good time visiting with friends.
Two things I loved: Rhetta saying hi to her classmates from last year that are not in her class this year, and Willon, when asked who painted his face said, "Mr. The Eyeball" (Mrs. Theobald) Hee!
Oh! and every year they dunk the principal into a tank of water! He's a really good sport.
Today, Rhetta...
... had an unsolicited opinion about what clothes she wore.
... adjusted the buckle on her seatbelt so she could click in with no help whatsoever. Yay for motor skills achievements!
... nodded her head yes. Really, first time ever. It is not something that comes naturally to her. I hope she doesn't hurt her neck muscles practicing. LOL
Stole this idea from a friend, Jess. Went to my photo storage and chose the very first picture in it and will tell the story behind it.
I was given a digital camera for Christmas from my ILs. I put batteries in it immediately and snapped this picture of Rhetta doing her thing, staring obssessed at the video. She was almost 2 years old and adored this Baby Einsteins video that MIL bought for her to watch at their house. I always loved how she was enthralled with it. I also loved how she'd schmear the TV screen with her little hands and mouth. FIL liked it to be spotless. Heh!
I wanted to keep that DVD forever as one of Rhetta's all-time favorite things but alas it left when they left (without telling us). I assume they dropped it off at the Salvation Army with the rest of Rhetta's things I found there. I scour eBay from time to time to no avail; it is one of the originals no longer in circulation.
The rest of us were in the house when I heard her screaming out back, getting closer and closer until she ran through the back door flailing and screaming bloody murder. Her hair was writhing with bees. There looked to be a dozen or more but more than one is enough. They were stinging her scalp.
I grabbed her and took her into the light of the bathroom and began raking bees out of her hair. Rob got them as the hit the floor. Some of them I squished with my fingers, another one I squished with my big toe. Some would fly away only to come back at her. It was horrifying. She was in such trauma. She couldn't stop grabbing at the stings and crying rivers of tears. "Angry bees are stinging me!" she wailed, over and over again. "The bees are angry!"
I quickly undressed her then undressed myself and got into a cool shower with her. I couldn't feel any stingers but thought if we could wash them out it would help. Plus, the cold water should help the pain. It did not. She was in such misery.
She was pretty wound up, too. Like, not calming down and really freaked out. Hugs didn't help, Tylenol didn't help, an ice pack was out of the question (she wouldn't touch it, said it was HOT!) She started asking to get in the car. I think she wanted to get out of the house but not back into the yard. I am fairly certain the pain made her feel like they were still stinging her so she figured if she got out of the house they would stop.
At this point I was pissed at the bees. I love bees and I am very happy with their help in the garden but these were not honey bees. They were some kind of wild bee, too squished for me to really tell. I channeled my inner Momma Bear, went out and found where they were hovering around a hole in the leaf pile and promptly annihilated them with a whole can of Raid Wasp & Hornet spray.
Still, I was worried. She couldn't gain control of her emotions. She continued to cry and scratch at her hair, sob and cling to us, quite terrified. Finally, after an hour I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital and she cried, "YES!" We have made two trips to the ER with her and she's always come out feeling better, more confidant, and well cared for, so Rob took her in. They (the attending doctor and nurses) were a little curfuzzled as to why they (Rob and Rhetta) were there but they checked her out, soothed her worries, gave her a dose of Motrin and sent her home.
It worked. I don't care how much it cost. She came home at ease with what happened stating, "I got better!" The Motrin did the trick with the pain and helped her go to sleep when it was time for "lights out".
This morning I got Willon down for his nap and very bravely went out to dig out what was left of the nest. I didn't yet know what I was going to find but thankfully the spray did the trick. Really I thought she had found wild bees since we have many kinds that live in the ground. These were not bees. These were, it turns out, hornets, and this is all that's left of them and their hive.
Rhetta woke up this morning feeling okay. She said, "Afraid of bees." to me first thing but didn't mention them again. I found welts on her torso I thought may have just been mosquito bites but are definitely stings as they had swollen to the size of, I don't know, dinner rolls. Her ear wasn't quite as fiery red but it was still giving off some heat. She was somewhat reluctant to go to school but I think that was because the long weekend threw her off. She most cheerfully went with her teacher this morning and flat refused to talk about the bees.
I do hope she can forgive them, but for now I am just glad she is not allergic.
