Okay, so I went a couple of weeks without updating. Shoot me.
I was in Arab helping my brother with an acting workshop for his musical theatre program at the high school. The kids rocked the house. It was a two week program and I found myself wishing there were more time even though I was also homesick for the rest of the family. The first week, I had both kids with me (Granna and Aunt Lena watched them while I did the camp) and the second week, it was just Morgan and I staying down in Hunstville while I drove back and forth to Arab every day. It was a tough schedule, but it was oh so worth it.
In other news:
The day after tomorrow, Ian is having a tonsillectomy. Bekah has the day of the surgery off, but after that I’m on my own with a irritable little boy with a very sore throat. Thank God for pain medication. I also have a He-Man of a son. When we took him in for his blood work a couple of weeks ago, the first time the nurse stuck him, he bucked like a mule and ripped the needle out of his arm. It took three of us to hold him down while another nurse stuck him again!
That’s one of the hardest things about being a parent: taking them to the doctor. Here is a child who looks to you for everything.
Every.
Thing.
And, then you have to sit and look them in the eyes and try to tell them it’s okay and that this is going to make them feel better or that this shot will keep them from getting sick knowing full well that the child looking back at you is only thinking one thing: WHY ARE YOU LETTING THIS STRANGE PERSON HURT ME, DADDY? The guilt factor is very high with doctor visits when shots are involved. Luckily, most of the shots are complete before the children begin to develop a memory for these things. Coincidence?
Not likely.
Anyway, back to Ian being a He-Man. The day I took him in for his last round of booster shots last year (before he started to the new preschool), I had to take him in by myself because Bekah had to work that day. Not only that, but I had Morgan as well. The visit with the doctor went amazingly well. I love our pediatrician. He rocks. Great, dry sense of humor and an amazingly relaxed beside manner (especially considering that 99% of the kids that come in to see him leave the office screaming).
Anyway, the nurse and I played it really cool with the whole shot thing. Ian had had a great time with Dr. Rosser but I knew that his day was about to get really bad. She came in and started prepping him and everything was going well even all the way through the alcohol swap. Ian was laughing and playing and I actually thought, “you know; everything’s going to be okay this time.“ Needless to say, neither the nurse nor I were prepared for the Hulk emerging from my son at the very moment the first needle went into his leg. My son–I kid you not–instinctively lashed out with the hand that I was holding and grabbed the syringe and yanked it out of his leg before she could drop the plunger. Knocked it completely out of her hand. The syringe landed on the table beside his leg with the needle completely bent in a 45 degree angle right at the base. The nurse and I were in such shock that we almost let him get off the table (because he was suddenly moving with the speed of a hungry cheetah). She had to go out and prep another syringe in order to get all three in one swoop, but it took two nurses that time to hold him down while the third did the dirty work.
Needless to say, Bekah and I are very concerned about this upcoming surgery. Not because of the risks of the surgery or any of that. We’re worried about the fact that the anesthesia has to be administered via an IV.
I know the doctors and nurses are experienced in this stuff, but I can’t shake the image of my son on a screaming rampage, completely destroying the operating room just before he leaps through the plate-glass window and runs off looking for a few unsuspecting villagers to ravage.
After all this, I’ll make sure I post something on Wednesday night to let you know that we all survived the surgery. And I don’t just mean the family. I mean the whole damn town.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:44 am
To learn more about tonsillectomy and treatment options visit http://www.itonsil.com