The Last Few Days

Tuesday evening we met my sister partway to drop Kyle off so that he could spend a few days with her. He hopped up in her SUV and was happily waving goodbye to us! I was surprised but happy that it was an easy send-off. He was excited about his adventure and I......... was missing him already as I watched my sister's SUV get further and further from my sight. We decided to go to Bob Evan's for dinner as it was right across the street. Marc had ordered a salad with his meal and when it arrived he started picking the cherry tomatoes off (Have ya seen the V8 commercial where the wife biffs her husband on the head?) He asked me if I wanted them and I started crying. Kyle always eats the cherry tomatoes off our salads! Oh Heather- pull it together! You can do this! I cried off and on all night, missing him something awful. We talked to him at bedtime and sang his prayer with him- I held it together until we hung up. I cried again when, out of habit, I went in to check on him before turning into bed and saw his empty little bed. Oh my goodness! I am one of those moms! Those clingy, overprotective moms that other moms make fun of!
Tuesday night I hardly slept- maybe an hour all night. I think I woke up around 4:30, started the coffee and got ready for our big day. We arrived at the hospital on time and surprisingly enough we didn't have to wait long. They were right on schedule. We took Bella back to the pre-op room and filled out more paperwork, spoke to the doctor, the anesthesiologist and the nurses. We dressed Bella in her gown and she threw a fit when we tried to remove her Dora sandals. The doctor and anesthesiologist agreed that it would be okay for her to leave them on during surgery!! Bella LOVES these sandals and the only time we can take them off of her is at bath time. She even wears them to bed!! The doctor let her take her bear and kitty into surgery with her as well for comfort. Marc and I were allowed to walk clear to the operating room door before passing her off to the doctor, who she didn't seem to mind going to!
After 15 minutes the doctor came in to the waiting room and said that he was done, everything went extremely well, he was able to get the tubes in both ears and he was even able to drain off all of the fluid behind her eardrum. That was good news!! Five minutes after that they called us back to see Bella in recovery. We walked into the room and as soon as I saw her I started laughing. She was already sitting up in bed! They told us that that was very unusual as kids are usually laying down and very fussy. Bella was groggy but she was drinking well and looking around. Most people would probably think I was terrible but I snapped a couple of pictures of her. This was, after all, a big day for her! We are going to look back at this and say "Remember when she had her tubes put in that enabled her to hear? And how wonderful it was because her speech improved?" A part of her history- it needed documented. Look at her face though!! She looks like she is mad enough to hurt somebody!! LOL!! She was still groggy from the anesthesia and ticked off because she wanted her hospital bracelet off her wrist! Apparently since it didn't have any jewels on it she didn't think she should have to wear it!

When I saw her face all I wanted to do was pick her up and cuddle with her and tell her how great she did and how proud I was of her for being so brave. But there she sat, staring at that doctor that just poked her in the ears!!! I wonder what she was thinking at that moment. Then again- maybe I don't want to know!

We didn't have to wait long before we could take her home. We stopped at McDonald's to get some breakfast as she was starving! We got her a plain bagel but she wanted the greasy hash browns! So, knowing that she would probably bring it back up from the anesthesia but looking at her miserable little face, I gave in. She ate the whole thing and still wanted more. Next fast food breakfast place on our route- Burger King, more hash browns. She scarfed that all down and fell asleep in the van. She never did get sick which was a great thing! She was a little moody for the rest of the day but did much better than we thought she would. She wanted to play and giggle and have fun! She took a long nap after we got home and then back to sleep for the night after a few hours. She slept very well last night. She has been a tad fussy today but is content as long as she is being cuddled- and I have NO problems doing that!

THANK YOU all for your prayers and thoughts for Bella. They mean more to me than you will ever know!

I will get around to all of you soon and thank you personally!!!! Have a great evening!!

~Heather :)