Surgery is still sucky, but the Princess is not

I mentioned in my last post that I would be having some minor surgery. I've apparently had an umbilical hernia for the last 3 1/2 years. Oopsies. Because small hernias can lead to big problems in grown ups, they tend to operate rather than wait and see, so I agreed to have it taken care of now rather than later.

Last week, Thursday, was the day of the surgery. It has kicked my ass. I thought out-patient meant "easy". It was anything but for me (and now that I've done my research, a lot of other people too). The CO2 gas from the laparoscopy was excruciating. I got sick from the codeine. Nausea, vomiting, constipation plus pain was super fun. It's been a week and I think I am at the regular soreness that the doctors speak of. If I move the wrong way I can feel the mesh poking me. I have to be super careful and slow and deliberate with all my movements. Sleeping is difficult. What's interesting is that my incisions are fine--very little pain in that area. Most of the soreness is on the opposite side of my abdomen, not even where the mesh is. I'm kind of wondering if the camera bumped into an organ! I am using my oils and they are helping, but it's still pretty hard.

Anyway, this past week has been much tougher than I expected. I'm not anticipating even trying to run for a couple more weeks. I might start biking first. I made my bed today and wiped down the kitchen table and I think I'll be on the couch for the rest of the day, if that's any indication of my energy levels. 

I keep thinking about The Princess and her surgeries and how young she was and whether or not it hurt as bad. She seemed to bounce back pretty quickly. I am so glad that part of our lives is over. I've been thinking about her a lot lately. And how pleasant the last year has been. There was a time when we just bugged each other, pushed each other's buttons, brought out the worst in each other. I say "a time" but it was more like 5 years or so. She was so quick to anger and tantrums and we spent a lot of time yelling. 

I've worked super hard over the last year on myself. On not blaming other people for things that I'm feeling, on taking responsibility for myself and my happiness, on not worrying so damn much, on being positive and grateful. I'll be honest, I think the oils have helped a lot in this. As I've centered myself, I think it has spilled over to her. In the last year she has been calmer, saner, and all together happier. I call her my bright-sider because she is always looking for the bright side of whatever has happened. She is super helpful and loving with her sister. She will still get angry from time to time, which is natural and normal--but she's not throwing huge tantrums. Of all of them she has the most empathy. A little while ago I started doing compliments at dinner time. I compliment the kids and they compliment each other (and sometimes us). She has completely taken to it and puts thought into it and is the first to remind us if we haven't done it. She also listens to everything I say--all the inspirational motivational things I have said over the last year--she takes them to heart. When I think back to how unbalanced she was--how unbalanced I must have been--it is amazing how she has transformed. I'm not sure if it's a temporary reprieve until she's a tween/teen... But so far 8 has been pretty awesome. 

Balls of Responsibility

Sometimes I feel as if I am riding a unicycle perilously perched at the top trying to keep it moving all while simultaneously juggling a few million balls. At all times one of those balls, it changes which one, but always one of my Balls of Responsibility comes dangerously close to leaving its orbit and throwing the whole thing out of whack. The primary Ball of Responsibility is taking care of my children and their ever increasing school and preschool demands. But there are many other Balls--the upkeep of the House, paying bills, never ending laundry and dishes; the upkeep of ME, running, reading, blogging; and then there's the marriage Ball. This is perhaps the hardest Ball to keep in the air because it depends on two people.

It is hard when one person works outside the home and the other works, albeit unpaid, within it. Our society values the person who is earning money and not the other. It's easy to fall into the "who has it harder?" game. I think the hardest part of being a DGPM is that people think it's easy. That because we have chosen this, because we are happier doing this than working at a job somewhere else, then that automatically means that it is EASY. But it's not. I'm a million times happier at home than when I was working at the library. That is undeniable. But that doesn't mean that I am sitting here all day eating bonbons and watching TV and doing NOTHING. I have responsibilities too. Lots of responsibilities.

This has been a tough week. SkyWalker has been home all week recovering from his surgery. He's had good times and bad times. We've fought over his school work. He's watched movies every single day. We've done what we've had to just to make it through. I can't take them out, can't have playdates or go to the library or even send him outside to run around. He can't have too much activity.

This week has been the perfect illustration of how it is NOT easy. It is not easy to keep all the Balls in the air. SkyWalker cries because his throat hurts and his ears hurt but I need to run and get Chewie off of the kitchen table or yank the dog food out of her mouth. I need to make sure he is drinking enough water and then I hear the splashing of Chewie playing in the toilet bowl--often full of pee because nobody but me flushes in this house. I am blogging now because we are watching a movie. And I will get up in a minute because Chewie has gone in the kitchen alone and that never leads to anything good.

When we have these weeks it reminds me how much I need the acknowledgement that this is NOT EASY. That this is hard. And important. And valued. And it really sucks not getting it.

I'm aware

that more than a month has passed by since I have last visited this blog.

1. Skywalker just had his tonsils/adenoids out this past Friday. Right now he is outside shoveling snow. I told him the doctor said no strenuous activity, but he did his schoolwork for the day and he's been doing nothing but watching TV, so I relented. He and the Princess are out in the snow and I am hoping the activity will help him poop. He did okay with the surgery, not so great coming out of it, and is doing okay right now. He's actually bouncier and smiling more than he has the past couple of days. But I still anticipate a long week ahead.

2. The Princess is doing wonderful in preschool and everywhere else. She's not so shy anymore and talks to people. We saw our friends last week and she immediately played with her buddy instead of waiting until right before we had to leave. She seems to be sane now which is good timing since...

3. Chewie is incapable of sitting down. She is ALWAYS on the move. Pushing stools and chairs so she can climb on higher tables and reach things she shouldn't. But she's happy *most* of the time.

4. I'm still running. Three times a week. I have some winter gear now so I can run in the cold on Sundays. I want to keep that up as long as I can. I just got a Garmin Forerunner watch for Christmas.

5. I'm blogging a lot over at my book blog. I spend a lot of time reading and blogging. If I could only get paid for it we'd be all set. If you haven't checked it out, you should: http://goddesslibrarian.blogspot.com

And that is all I can update since I need to find pants for the two little snow shovelers and remind them that nap time for Chewie is a drumming-free time (SkyWalker inherited Pop's unwanted drums this weekend.)

So what about...?

The Princess:

When I was 20 weeks pregnant with the Princess I had an ultrasound to see if there was anything wrong with the placenta because of the partial abruption I had with SkyWalker. The placenta was fine, but they saw dilation (backed up fluid) in the right kidney. That was roughly 3 1/2 years ago and we have been dealing with it ever since. She's been on antibiotics every day since the day she was born. She was taken off after her first surgery but developed reflux and got a UTI within just 2-3 months and put back on them. 

Today was her latest ultrasound. There's still some dilation around the ureter they fixed, but it looks exactly the same as it did 6 months ago. Not better, but also not worse. We finally heard the words we've been waiting to hear--she can go off the medication. We'll have to be super vigilant about preventing UTIs from all the other ways little girls get them--holding in pee too long, not wiping correctly, etc. I am sure I will be more paranoid than ever now. I think I'll probably get those at home UTI test kits so I don't have to drag her to the doctor every time I panic. She'll have yearly ultrasounds to make sure that nothing is changing but other than that she should be okay.

*************

SkyWalker:

We had some bad days and got into some serious altercations, but for the most part it's been great having SkyWalker home. I almost don't want him to go back to school. Our problems always stem from the same thing--he makes some kind of mess or does some crazy thing and then when I tell him it's time to stop he refuses to listen and is disrespectful and rude and doesn't take me seriously. Until I explode and then he's hysterical. How quickly it takes me to explode seems to vary a lot lately. We've been doing pretty well recently. And when I put things in perspective, we only have these blowups at home, never in public. When we are out he is always very well behaved. He's a great big brother. How many almost 6 year olds do you know who willingly take their 3 year old sisters outside and push them on a swing? With a smile? He's always coming and getting Chewie out of the dishwasher and taking her to her toys and distracting her so she'll stop crying. He loves his sisters and I know I can always trust him with them. 

He has huge tonsils and probably huge adenoids and will see an ENT in September who will probably recommend surgery. This will royally suck since as we all know surgery sucks, but more so because he will be a big baby about the recovery. And this is the first time I have a kid having surgery who can actually say the words "I don't want surgery." So that's fun.

*************

Chewie:

She walks. I fought it, but she walks. She doesn't run and she still crawls more than walks, but she is putting one foot in front of the other on a regular basis. She also screams. She makes sounds and can say Mama and Dada and Nana and bababababababa. But for the most part her preferred method of communication is "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" very loudly. She can hear, she copies her brother's humming and singing, and she sometimes follows directions. She is just LOUD. Perhaps when she has me all to herself she will find her inside voice. It must be inside of her somewhere. 

*************

Running:

I had to cut down to 3 times a week, which is the funniest thing I think I've ever written. I have yet to do any yoga and probably won't. I do have a weight lifting routine that I will start after my race this Saturday. I am training for a 10K in October, but since I am pretty sure SkyWalker's surgery will be in October I'm kind of doing it for the training and expecting to not actually do the race. Whatever happens, happens. I ran my longest distance (4.5 miles) last Sunday and thought "I only have to do 1.5 more" not "holy crap how am I going to do 1.5 more?" So that's good. Oh! And my girlie problem turned out to be nothing more than some low-down cramping so I just have to take motrin 800 and I'm all good. It won't interfere with my running at all. 

*************

Working:

I've been thinking a lot about when I have to go back to work when my last baby is in school. I have no desire whatsoever to go back to work. But I'm sure Vader will have a heart attack if I say that. If I could find a library job that will let me work 9-1 that would be great. I want to get the kids off the bus and be here when there are here. I don't want nights or weekends. I just don't want that anymore. Ideally, I would like to find a job that will let me work from home. Even though I get paid crapola from the examiner I've been doing lots of articles. I'm trying to build up a resource between that and my book blog and establish my presence online again. If I can do some kind of freelance writing or even librarianing (I know that's not a word but I like it.) through the internets I think we'd be okay. Vader's school loan is paid off. Mine will be paid off by then. We won't be spending money on diapers. The only debt we have is the van and the house. And by the time the last baby is in school SkyWalker might be old enough to start mowing lawns. So, if you haven't been reading my examiner articles or going through my book blog to get to amazon, you're dead to me.

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The Princess and the pee, part 2

The Princess had her ultrasound yesterday and her ureter looks a lot less swollen than it did, her kidney looks fine, and everything is working. We're on the right "track" but we'll be continuing the meds for at least another 6 months. I'm disappointed about that but the last thing we need right now is another UTI. And potty training girls tend to get UTIs. While it's a nuisance for them, it's really bad for the Princess. Because she is potty training she was able to pee in the "hat" in the toilet and give them a sample. The doc was happy about that. Her urine is clear and that's great.   

Speaking of potty training, we almost had an accident free day yesterday. Her only accident was when we were coming in from outside. She had wanted to pee in the grass since Daddy had her do that but it just wasn't working with Mommy. By the time we got inside and negotiated sitting on the potty she told me she was going in her underwear. 

The exterminator came yesterday for our yellow jacket problem. They're coming back on Friday and will take out some sheet rock to get rid of the HUGE nest in the wall and then patch it up. It is not cheap. But it is cheaper than what they quoted us because my husband refused to do it otherwise. I just want them out of my house. 

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, just like Monday. They went outside a little bit with Daddy. I'm sure the days that we do not have doc visits will rain. We've used the pool twice? Three times maybe? It's rained so much or we're out when it's nice. The sun really needs to coordinate with our schedule.

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What the hell?

I know there's been a relative lack of updation here... I haven't really been in the mood. And I have to fight for the computer all the time. And I don't want to bore people with pregnant talk. Once again I wish vox had custom friends lists like LJ.

We went to a parent night for kindergarten students last week. I was happy to see more than just the one recognizable preschool parent face. There are a couple of kids from preschool going there, one of which is a very nice boy, in addition to our neighbor. SkyWalker is excited about seeing them. I really hope he gets a class with a friendly familiar face. There are 4 classes and only 19-20 kids in each which is exactly how many kids are in his preschool class. The school was just updated so there are smart boards in the classrooms. It all looked pretty cool. I think SkyWalker will be fine. It might take some time, but since it's all day, every day, he should hopefully get used to it quicker than everything else!

Speaking of which, a year ago I had just started my mom's group, and SkyWalker was as shy as could be. Hiding in the bathroom, not talking to ANYONE anywhere we went. He has come so far and it's just so remarkable. Today we had a playdate with one of his preschool friends--the first friend he made--and there was no hesitation, no shyness, no warming up. He immediately started playing like a goofball. It was so so nice to see. This was our first playdate too. It makes me feel so much better... and that I've been doing the right thing.

Next week I'm leaving both Jedi with a lifesaver so I can do the icky glucose test. I've told SkyWalker that he and his sister are going to have a playdate and that Mommy will have to go to the doctor. And while he wants to go to the doctor with me, he also wants to go to Cameron's house right now. The other day he told me that Cameron was his cousin. 

The Princess is continuing to improve. It will be 4 weeks since her surgery this Monday. She was a crazy girl today running and jumping and I didn't have the heart to try to stop her. Her steri strips are off and it looks like there's a stitch coming through. I really REALLY hope it just dissolves on its own without us having to take her to get it yanked out. That will suck. It does not seem to bother her at all. Her incision is probably the same size as it was last time but it looks much smaller since her belly is much bigger. I've been putting vitamin E on it and hopefully it won't be noticeable the older she gets. Her last one was almost invisible.

I'm planning on starting her in gymnastics in the fall. Some of you might remember SkyWalker's brief (one time) dalliance with gymnastics, I think his sister will do better. For one thing, she is a climber and a jumper, and she's been going to meetups and indoor gyms for a while now. And I'm trying to get her best little buddies to join too. So I think we'll last more than one class this time. We'll definitely be needing the distraction... we're both quite attached to SkyWalker. She walks around the house calling his name and looking for him and saying "Doin?" when she wants to know what's he's doing at any given moment. It's pretty cute. She'll have the baby to keep her occuppied, but the baby can't jump. Or put her shoes on for her. Or give her a bowl of goldfish when Mommy's not looking.

Isaac's leg seems to be healing. I don't know what our game plan is. We've been confining him to the leash for months now. It's getting harder and harder. But Vader doesn't want to take him back to the vet and have them say he needs surgery so close to June. I don't know what we're going to do.

Unrelated to anything, we've been having water problems. I know we always have water problems, but this time it's the temperature. Our water has always been really hot. Since having babies we've turned the hot water heater down... and down... and down. It is now a notch about the off position. Guess what my water temp is at the tap? 160 degrees. I've been researching a lot online and whenever there's a problem it's always with water that's NOT hot, not too hot. We have an oil-fired hot water heater and a new one would be $2000-2600. I finally called my oil company to see if they could recommend someone who would service it or just tell us what we need to do and it turns out that they'll look at it. (The company it came from apparently doesn't service them anymore). AND when I explained the problem to the guy he said we would only need a new one if it was leaking and that it sounds like the "thermostat" (not the technical term) is just busted. It might cost us a few hundred to have someone come out and look at it and fix it but that's better than 2 grand. And I have a wicked huge credit from the budget plan payments I made when the price of oil was wicked high. I wonder how much oil we've wasted heating this damn water. It is now up to Vader to call and set up a time. I think I will have to remind him every day. As he said yesterday he is dillatory (?) and I am proactive. The word he used meant the opposite of pro-active, someone who just delays things, but he's trying to expand his vocabulary.

Speaking of which, when I was changing the Princess's poopy diaper today (aside--I have a friend who ALWAYS says "messy diaper". Each time she says it I think of what she must think of me and my poopy talk. I've been trying to clean it up and not let the poop fly so much, but it's hard.), SkyWalker was assisting and when he saw the diaper he said "What the hell?". It was not an unusual poop, so I really don't know what his problem was.Anyway, I'm pretty sure he did not get that expression from ME, because if he had he would have said "What the hell dude?". So I'll be blaming that one on his father.

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Progress report

The Princess is doing much much better. She's walking on her own, climbing up the stairs (argh!) and making silly faces. I think we've turned the corner and now begins the hard part of keeping her from doing too much for the next month. I am so annoyed we had to drop out of the family place workshop at the library but the thing she loved to do most there was climb on the climbing toys and fall down the slide. Sigh. It is going to be a long long month.

SkyWalker seems to be okay now that his sister is acting more normally. He was a bit worried. They are very VERY close. He's back to being a goofball and in the same breath told me that I was the cutest mommy in the world and that I had a big fat womb and smelled like throw-up.

Back to work I go gathering tissue paper and feathers and streamers and aluminum foil shapes for the workshop tomorrow that we can't go to. :-(

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Surgery is sucky

I don't know how much time I have before the Princess needs something... she is watching Curious George (after requesting Dora and then taking the remote and flipping around until she found the movies on demand station and a preview for Australian movies with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman and then saying George). 

It has not been an easy week. 

She had her surgery Monday morning. They couldn't do the original plan of putting the bad ureter on the good one. The surgeon just didn't want to take the risk of the "good" one not being good enough. So they took both off and put them both back on the kidney (yes this pretty much is what they did when she was 5 months old). They buried them deep within the bladder and made a decent size tunnel. He said her bladder muscle was pretty thin and that's the only reason he can think of for her developing the reflux to begin with. We'll know in May if it was successful and if it wasn't he says *he's* going to cry. 

Recovery has been much harder than the first time. She refused to walk because it hurt too much. She had the equivalent of an epidural in the hospital and it took a while for her to feel her legs again. She couldn't poop and that doesn't happen to her too often so I think she was in even more pain. I gave her a suppository yesterday morning and she seems to be doing a bit better. Eating and drinking a little more and walking if I hold her hand. During the surgery they found bacteria in her urine and it it turned out to be a UTI. So no more amoxicillin (obviously didn't work). She's on bactrum now and she does not like it. She has to drink a ton of water or it will hurt her kidneys. She's drinking more now but before she pooped she was not drinking as much as she should have. She also needs to drink more to flush out all of the blood. She was looking pretty good at the hospital because she had the IV. 

All in all it's been much harder than when she was 5 months old and wasn't even crawling let alone walking. She slept a lot more and had more time to heal. I'm glad I took last night off from work and really wish I didn't have to work this weekend. She's doing a bit better but she's still not independently walking. It's going to be a long weekend away from her. 

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Common sense

My husband is very smart. But sometimes he is very stupid.

A couple of days ago I was explaining to SkyWalker about the Princess's surgery (in less than a week). I said I would have to stay overnight at the hospital but that Daddy and Nana would be home with him. Vader acts totally surprised. He didn't know it was an overnight. He asked if I wanted him to stay instead but I can't do that. I can't leave her. Today it dawned on me to ask him if he took Tuesday off from work too. Nope. He claims that he had asked me what days he had to take off and I said just Monday. If he did I'm sure I thought he meant the whole week which he doesn't need to do since my mom will be here until Thursday. Now, besides the fact that he was sitting in the doctor's office with me when they said she needs surgery again and that it will be an overnight, in what world do you ever get surgery and get released that day? When you're less than 2 years old??!!! This is not a procedure like September's deflux. This is invasive surgery with an incision and a scar and pain meds and the whole shebang. The possibility exists that she might have to stay more than one night, but it was only one night last time (when she was 5 months old). But there is a huge difference between the recovery time of a 5 month old and an almost-2 year old. It might take a lot longer. I'm trying to get Thursday night off from work and naturally I have to work the following weekend, but that's a lost cause. 

It's not like I need him to stay over Monday night, but if he goes in to work on Tuesday that means we'll have to take separate cars on Monday (and I really don't like driving in these situations) and I'll be all alone talking to the doctors Tuesday morning and it will all just be even more of a pain in the ass. Not to mention the fact that if it were me I wouldn't be able to go to work until I knew my baby girl was home and okay. 

It is 8:50 and we should leave for storytime at 9:30 but SkyWalker said he has too much work to do today so he can't go. He then said he wants to just stay at our home and relax. I explained that he's missing next week and he's okay with that. I'm trying to keep the Princess germ-free this week so it looks like we're not going today. Which is fine since I am still in my pajamas and not really in the mood to see anyone right now. 

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Here we go again

I have tried to remain positive and optimistic. My baby is having surgery again but at least she has surgery available to her--she doesn't have a fatal disease. This will all be over and she will live a normal life. My husband's job is in jeopardy once again but I am trying to have faith that it will all work out as it has before. 

But this is just too much.

Isaac came in last night limping. He could barely make it up the stairs. I hoped it was just the cold and maybe he had jumped up too quickly. It hasn't gotten any better. Here's the kicker--it's his OTHER leg. Back in August 2007 Isaac had surgery for a torn ACL. They told us there was a good chance it would happen to his other leg too. I will bet anything that this is what it is. We're taking him to the vet on Saturday and then we'd have to take him to the specialist again and he'd have to have another surgery. Which would involve him being in the crate and confined to a leash for 2-3 months. 

So, right now I am 14 1/2 weeks pregnant and taking medication so I don't throw up but even with the medication I still sometimes throw up especially when I do too much like try to vacuum. SO, let's say Isaac gets his surgery in January. Who's home all day to take him out on the leash? Me. He'll be confined to the crate until March? Maybe. What's in March? The Princess's surgery. So I will go from taking care of Isaac to taking care of the Princess. By March I will be 5-6 months pregnant. 

And I'm not even getting into the financial ramifications of having to pay for another surgery. Let's hope Vader doesn't lose his job.

I have way too many posts tagged surgery. 

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Ureters, Reflux and Surgeries. Oh my.

When I was 20 weeks pregnant with the Princess I had a level 2 ultrasound to check my placenta because of the minor abruption I had with SkyWalker. The placenta was okay. The Princess's right kidney was not. That was in January 2007, nearly 2 years ago, and that is how long we have been dealing with this. 

In October of 2007, at a mere 5 months old, the Princess had her first surgery. The plan was to take her "bad" ureter on the right side and hook it up to the good one (you're only supposed to have one anyway!). When they got inside the bad one was so kinked up that they couldn't do it. So they took both ureters and detached them and then reattached them right next to each other on the bladder. Her follow up ultrasound looked great, but she didn't have a VCUG because she hadn't had reflux to begin with... and then she got her UTI in April 08 and in June she had the VCUG and lo and behold there was reflux. In Sept, nearly a year after her first surgery, she had the deflux procedure done to correct the reflux. Today she had another ultrasound and VCUG. 

It didn't work.

The bad ureter is just so bad that the deflux didn't even make a dent. So in March 09 they will take the bad ureter and hook it up to the good one. Yeah, you read that right. She's grown so much that the ureter has stretched and unkinked itself and they are confident that they can do it this time and then that will be it, it will be fixed. At that point she will be just under 2 years old and she will have her 3rd surgery. 

Good. Friggin. Times.

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Goofballs

I am completely lacking in focus right now. I intended on making a bookmark on discipline books or doing some other work-related work but I just can't focus. I am tired beyond tired and the only thing I can attribute it to is spending all day at the hospital yesterday. And thinking about all the things I still have to do. Like clean and bake cupcakes and more cupcakes and more cupcakes.

The Princess was amazing yesterday. They delayed her surgery so she had to wait even longer with an empty tummy and she was SO GOOD it was just, well, amazing. I did let her have her pacifier towards the end because she was getting tired as well as hungry. They took her away and she didn't cry, just calmly let them hold her. The surgery itself was only half an hour. She came out of the anesthesia crying and screaming and really unhappy. She refused to drink any water. She finally just screamed herself to sleep in my arms and slept for at least half an hour and then when she woke up she was much calmer. She cried when they took out the IV and the blood pressure thing, but got over it quickly. When we got home she drank water and ate chinese food and jumped on Mama and went to sleep without any medication. Today she has been a complete goofball, jumping on the bed, sticking her hand in the toilet, and wrestling her brother whenever she got the chance.

We won't know if it was successful until November when she has her VCUG and Ultrasound. The surgeon sounded confident but couldn't commit to anything. So now we just wait and see.

SkyWalker seems to be doing just fine in preschool. He's talking about some of the kids and while I'm sure he's not playing with them yet, he's willingly going there and doesn't seem traumatized. He's having a hard time with his poop again but I think that's because of the Princess yesterday and not because of preschool. It's possible it's preschool, I'm pretty sure he's not going to poop there and once he holds it in it's never good, but I would bet that it has more to do with worrying over his sister. Hopefully he'll get it out tonight.

Today my son said: "You need to see my butt crack", bent over, dropped pants, and showed me his butt crack. Good times.

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So far so good

SkyWalker had his "first" day of preschool on Monday. The Princess and I were right down the hall, but I didn't tell him that. He was only there for an hour but he did pretty good. He talked to his teacher and did what he was supposed to do and told my mom that he made friends with a couple of kids. Vader just left to take him for his first official day. 

They scheduled the Princess's surgery for noon. We have to be there at 10:30. This pretty much sucks, BUT it's going much better than I thought it would. I went upstairs at 11:30 last night with a cup of yogurt and some milk. She had just a little milk but she ate most of the yogurt, proving once again that she is her father's daughter and can eat at anytime, anywhere. She smiled and talked and kept looking at me like "Is this for real?". I hope tonight I don't hear "Where's my yogurt woman?" through the monitor. She woke up slightly before 7, I changed her diaper and acted like it was the middle of the night. I put her back down and she went back to sleep. Or at least stayed quiet enough that I could eat and shower. She woke up again at 8:30 and I gave her the water she was allowed to have. We are downstairs in the office now and she is trying to ride a bike AND play the ukuele at the same time. So far she doesn't seem to have realized that we have not eaten. We still have a little less than an hour to go before we have to leave though. I think once she's in the car she will be okay and then she will be distracted in the hospital. I am so glad I gave her that yogurt. 

By the end of today, in the last 4 years I will have had to be in the waiting room 3 times as my children went through surgery. I think that's more than my fair share, don't you? Funnily enough I've also had to go through 3 dog surgeries--all for Mr. problem dog Isaac. I would like to be done with surgeries now. 

I need to somehow pack some snacks for myself and a sippy cup for the Princess without her seeing. I cannot believe how calm and good she is being, but I'm sure that will change if she sees some food. 

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So annoyed

This was supposed to be a nice post about the Princess sitting on the potty and peeing intentionally but instead I'm ready to scream. 

The surgeon just called. Her deflux procedure has been cancelled tomorrow. They need a special scope. Which is broken. I could choose to do it next week or next month. Argh. Of course next Wednesday is the ONLY Wednesday in  September I was scheduled to work, presumedly because the other person couldn't do it. And next Wednesday is SkyWalker's first full day at preschool. We're doing it because I don't want to wait another month but even waiting another week is really pissing me off. I was all ready to do this tomorrow and now we have to wait even longer!

I think I'm going to scream now.

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Stir crazy

We're going a little crazy.

The jedi and I have always peacefully coexisted at home without needing much interaction from other people. We were happy as a threesome, even if we weren't, you know, happy. And then I had to go and try to teach us how to be social. And what's happened? When we're home with no plans and no playdates we yell at each other. It didn't help that poor Mama was out of commission and spent most of the day on the couch today. It wasn't all yelling and screaming... we had quite a few cuddle moments and we all played in the tent and pretended to sleep. But we've been a little on edge with each other. I will be glad when the weekend hits and Vader is home.

Of course we're right back into craziness after the Princess has her deflux done on Wednesday. Just a short 2 days later SkyWalker has a playdate at his new preschool. It's only 45 minutes long. Depending on how well the Princess has recovered, I might ask Vader to go in a little late that day and stay home with her. When I first read about this I thought it was an office visit. Maybe it is for older kids. But Albany Med called this morning to do a "pre-surgery" interview and it sounds a bit more than an office visit. It's not at the hospital, it's at the outpatient place that SkyWalker had his surgery but it doesn't sound like a 10 minute thing. She might need more recovery than I initially thought.

I am trying hard to channel Positive Polly.

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Done now

I'm done now. No more surgeries please. kthxbye. 

The Princess has reflux. If you recall from here and here the Princess was born with 2 ureters on the right kidney. One of them was not emptying into the bladder correctly. So they did surgery and wound up putting the two of them in a new spot right next to each other. Seems as if the weaker of the two ureters now has reflux. 

Options:

A) Wait and see. Do nothing. Keep her on amoxicillin and see if it resolves itself. 

B) Traditional surgery.

C) Deflux--outpatient procedure in which they inject a substance to bulk up the weak muscle around the ureter in the hope that it will function better. 

A) would be great if she was born with reflux, but she wasn't. This is because her ureter is weak. I can't see it resolving itself and the doc said the odds weren't great. We run the risk of needing to do surgery anyway, only when she is older and I am either pregnant or already have another baby.

B) 90% success rate. But another surgery... another incision. Another night in the hospital. Another recovery. 

C) 80% success rate. No side effects. Outpatient and she's back to normal as soon as the anesthesia wears off. if it doesn't work she can still have traditional surgery. It it does work she's only had to go through a procedure. 

Vader and I haven't discussed it yet since he went to work immediately after we left the doc's office. I'm leaning towards option C. The surgeon stressed that all 3 options are acceptable and that there was no immediate rush to do anything. She's not in life-threatening danger. The kidney itself looks great. No damage is being done and as long as she doesn't get more infections she's okay. Looks like we'll be on the amoxicillin for a while. We have to e-mail the surgeon and let him know how we want to proceed. 

I am SO done with this crap. Only I'm not. And that's the sad part. 

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Surgery sucks

Isaac's surgery went as well as it could. He looks pretty beat up... stitches on his neck, his legs. The vet had never seen anything like that big lump that was on his back leg. That's comforting. (not). We'll get the results of the biopsy in a week. He's wearing a cone--collar again and will have to be on the leash until he gets the stitches out (April 5). He's pretty doped up now and just sleeping but I'm sure he'll be a pain in the ass tomorrow and scratching at his cone.

The Princess had her checkup. She's 17 pounds, 15 ounces (she's always 1 or 2 ounces below the next pound. Always. It's hilarious.). She's dropped to the 10th percentile so I know she's mine for sure now. She's 27 1/2 inches long, I think that's the 25th percentile so she's proportionate and right where she should be. She's doing great with everything. Her ears look fine. She's probably teething. I got the go-ahead to do cow's milk early and now I probably won't. 

I have my first meet-up tomorrow. I hope it goes well. I'm trying SO hard people. So hard. 

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Who's counting?

Those of you keeping track at home know that my son had one surgery, my daughter had one surgery and Isaac the dog had TWO surgeries--not including getting fixed because that's just not optional if you're a good dog owner. Next Tuesday he will have his third surgery. That's right! Number 3. 

I discovered a cyst on his neck a few weeks ago that Vader poo-pooed. Last week Vader said we were going to have to take him to the vet because it was worse. I looked at it and it looked like what was on his ear back in Oct. 2006 so I was pretty sure we'd have to do surgery again. While he's getting this removed they are also going to remove the growing bumps on his legs. He hasn't lost hair there but they've gotten bigger and bother me. They just can't be normal. 

It'll just be a one-day thing, no overnight. I'd really like to know why he keeps getting these things. It can't just be our bad luck rubbing off on him because Haze is fine. Although she did have that adventure in the woods... but she's been healthy. 

Speaking of healthy, coughing child number 2 beckons.

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Pause

Ever wish you had a pause button for life? I swear this week has gone by in a matter of seconds.

The Princess had her surgery on Monday. She did very well. It was a bit more complicated than originally thought--apparently the bad ureter was going into the urethra and not the bladder at all. So instead of re-routing the bad one onto the good one, they took both (since they were very closely attached to each other as well) and moved them both into a more appropriate spot on the bladder. The bad ureter was kinked a lot and this was the best way to fix it. There's a 95% chance that this will fix everything and she won't have problems in the future.

When we first saw her after the surgery she was so puffy from the fluids in the IV that I almost didn't recognize her. It was hard seeing her like that and I couldn't pick her up right away. Luckily she was very calm and actually trying to smile. The nurse handed her to me and I was able to nurse her immediately, unlike SkyWalker who was too weak to nurse. That was good. And she lost the puffiness pretty quickly. She was up ALL night long and when she wasn't nursing, her little roommate was crying (with no Mommy to console him). Or the nurses were in and out giving meds. I did not sleep and am still trying to catch up. She's been up every night this week. We started her on cereal yesterday and I hope to be back on routine starting Monday. Having my mom here this week was a huge help and yet one more reminder of how far away I am.

The news on the FIL is not so good... a cat scan showed a mass (carcinoma) on his spine so now he has to have radiation for 10 weeks and then follow up with more chemo. MIL mentioned that they are working on "just eliminating his pain" right now. Which doesn't sound very promising to me... but nothing is ever said directly.

One of our pipes has yet another leak and it looks like we will have to have major work done one way or another. Good times.

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