Two Days

At one o'clock in the morning before his surgery Quinn cried out, "Mommy, I'm scared." I wasn't sure what it was he was afraid of, but I crawled into his pull-out bed at the Ronald McDonald House and assured him everything would be okay. I also told him I was a little scared too, but knew that everything would be okay.

Exactly 24 hours later I was sitting by his bedside as he cried out in pain, "Mommy, it hurts. It hurts. It hurts." I stroked his hair and assured him that it wouldn't always hurt this bad as I waited for the tylenol with codeine to kick in and do it's job. This was the first round of trying the tylenol instead of the morphine.

An hour later he was still in pain and restless so the nurse gave him morphine. He slept soundly for three hours until the doctors and nurses started checking him out.

There were a lot of moments during those two days that were so hard. So many moments where I stopped to remember how thankful I am that my children are, in general, healthy children and this little adventure was just a very short-term affair.

As we were in the pre-op room waiting for things to get going a "child specialist" came and talked with Quinn about what was going to happen. She talked about the special sleepy medicine that he'd breath in, she showed him the special mask where the medicine would come out, and she let him "paint" a good smelling smell inside the mask to hide the real smell of the medicine. He choose bubble gum.

She also gave him a "shadow doll" to demonstrate the different things that would be happening to him with the doll. He told me I could hold the doll while he was in the operating room, because, "It's my shadow. Since you can't come with you can hold the doll."

While waking up in the recovery room Quinn was nervous that he'd be too heavy for Mike and I to carry around. I told him that's exactly why I go to the gym and that's exactly why his daddy works out in the garage - so we'd be strong enough to carry him.

He ate a total of three popsicle during his recovery period. Each time he remembered to say please and thank you - even in his drunken state.

The doctors and nurses kept warning us that children are a bit "grumpy" when they wake up after surgery. I kept doubting that would be Quinn, but figured I was wrong. Nope. The nurse in the recovery room was amazed at how calmly he woke up. She said the first thing he asked for was a popsicle. And then he wanted the tv on. Each time he said please.

Friday morning was spent with Quinn crying to go home. "I just want to go home and leave these stupid casts at the hospital."

Now that we're home, Quinn only recounts the good parts of his little adventure to family and friends...

"I got to play in the water that the face spit out." (Millennium Park - the day before)

"I only took like 5 or 10 breathes of the medicine and then I fall asleep. It smelled like bubble gum."

"The doctor didn't let me eat after midnight because he didn't want me to throw up on him. That would be gross."

"I got room service."

"I ate hot dogs and milkshakes. And so many popsicles."

"The nurses thought I'd be grumpy, but I wasn't."

"The doctor gave me more bone to help my feet."

"I get to use a wheel chair!"

"I can pee in a bottle."

May 20th - The Big Day

Quinn's surgery has been scheduled for May 20th.


We have decided to go with Dr. B and after asking him why he didn't want to do both procedures we feel that we have made the right decision.

Doing both a sliding heel osteotomy and a lateral column lengthening with medial imbrication is actually pretty risky. Both require making a slit in the bone and inserting donor bone. And the slits are just a centimeter apart. Which, from my understanding, totally increases the risk of that little bit of bone between the two cuts to fracture/shatter. Also, Dr. B said that he feels that just the lateral column lengthening will show great improvement in Quinn's feet. We might want to consider a sliding heel osteotomy in a few years - on just Quinn's left foot.

So the date is May 20th and here's my to-do list in relation to the surgery. (This does not include things I need to do for work.)

• buy Quinn with new puzzles and legos (check)
• buy a bean bag chair to help with keeping his legs elevated (check)
• get some "Going to the Hospital" books from the library
• inform Quinn's babysitter of the surgery and last day (check)
• inform Quinn's teacher of the surgery and ask about graduation day
• tell Quinn (check)
• arrange for care for Liam (check)
• arrange for a short stay at the Ronald McDonald house
• find some non-tainted tylenol/motrin (check - generic brand)
• arrange for post-surgery "play dates"
• figure out if the metra (train into the city) is wheel-chair friendly
• ask the child center at the gym if Quinn can come in a wheel-chair and play on their computers/watch TV

I've spoken with the nurse quite a few times since scheduling and after each phone call I feel so much better about our decision. The latest and greatest news is that the pre-operating room is a "stick free" area - so they will not start his IV until after he's been put under. Also - Mike and I will be able to wait for him to wake up in the recovery room - so Quinn will see us right away.

Also - the nurse said that Dr. Bielski will carry Quinn in the operating room! Quinn is so familiar with this doctor and has always enjoyed the visits with him in the office so I know Quinn will be in good hands (literally) as the doctor takes him...

A Mother's Day to Remember...

First - go check out these adorable interviews with my boys from Disney World. I love it!

I was sure this was going to be the third Mother's Day in a row in which Mike would be sick.

He was sick Thursday night. Stayed home from work Friday. Still felt sick on Saturday. Thankfully, for me, he was feeling better today.

I was able to do exactly what I wanted today.

I slept in and woke up to see Quinn helping Liam with a puzzle on the floor.

We ate pancakes for breakfast and Mike took the boys outside while I cranked out the laundry and cleaned out our bedroom. (yes - I wanted to do laundry today!) While outside Mike and the boys planted flowers and blueberry bushes.

For breaks every once in awhile I'd go outside and watch the two boys riding their bikes. Liam just learned how to pedal and Quinn is now riding without training wheels!

After lunch I ran out and did some shopping - since this is one of my last free weekends for a long time...

Came home later and we all went out to dinner!

Perfect.

Much better than the last two years.

Also - I think Quinn's teacher really drilled into them the fact that it was, in fact, "Mother's Day". He kept wanting to help me and was SO good all day long. What a sweetie.