Tales from the Steppes

2006-08-09

7:38 a.m.
Wednesday, August 9

This week is not off to a good start. Monday I stayed home most of the day, waiting for Verizon to show up. It is a good thing I did, as they never called before coming out. I suppose I could have left it for my babysitter to deal with but I do not want repair people in the house without being home myself. As expected, the problem was not in the house but at some other point in the system.

Because I was tied up with this task, the SU had to take the YM to the orthopaed to check his arm alignment. Unfortunately, the bones did not move back into place enough so the doctor scheduled him to go to the hospital on Tuesday. Nothing by mouth after midnight. The YM cooperated with that requirement surprisingly well. I guess telling him about my experience after having 2 Lifesavers at some point in the day before having my arm operated on the last time was instructive. Stomach motility + anesthesia = bad news.

The MM and I also had nothing to eat or drink, as we did not think it was fair to the YM. We got to the hospital around 10:30 and the YM set out to be his most charming. He was wearing his frog scrubs, so he was dressed for the occasion. The nursing staff gave him booties, hat, mask, and gloves to complete the outfit. Not only did they all come home with us, but he had to wear the ensemble again at bedtime. (Who wears latex gloves to bed?)

Things went downhill from there. The anesthesiologist had given him the mask they would use to apply gas, so he would have time to get used to it. It is in his lap in the photo. Strawberry scented - bleah. Smelled just like Spencers gift shop. They had explained that first he would get laughing gas so he would not notice the next gas that smelled like "frog farts". Then they would put in an IV, so no needles while he was awake. All was ok until we got into the OR and they started up the gas. That is when he freaked out a bit and said he did not want to laugh. The nurses had to hold him down and crank up the gas to get him under. Even though I understood that this was necessary, it was still hard to watch. I soothed him as much as I could but had to just get out of the way and let the professionals do their job.

The recovery room was yet another scene. He woke up in pain, with an IV in his arm, and a blood pressure cuff squeezing one of his legs. A bit of morphine, a popsicle, some ginger ale, and the blood pressure cuff off and he calmed down. I am sure all around us breathed a giant sigh of relief.

Five hours later, all was ok and he has no memories of this. A bit unfortunate, as I want the YM to have a negative association with breaking his body.

And now, I am at least 1 1/2 days behind where I needed to be before leaving for Pennsic. Don't guess I will be getting out early on Friday.