Today marks four days post tonsil surgery, and I was really hopeful that Conner would be feeling up to eating a little dinner with us (like actually at the table with us) so I made mashed potatoes and gravy to go with our drumsticks and green beans. Unfortunately, he is still in a lot of pain and has not been eating much of anything, and he lives in the basement.
He did at least eat the mashed potatoes. YEAH!!!
Apparently there is some kind of magical power in the basement. As long as he is down there he doesn’t moan and whine and whimper. The moment he steps up stairs the pain is unbearable….living in the basement is fine with me at this point. I was just hoping he would magically feel better when he say the mashed potatoes and gravy.
Yesterday and the day before were the worst. He stopped talking, he was drooling all over himself (I had to put a towel around his neck) and I could barely get him to eat a little yogurt and some cold ramen noodles (gross). Not that he wasn’t offered many more things, he just couldn’t eat. I have to give him credit though, he’s been a champ about taking his medicine and drinking ice water.
He did perk up a little this afternoon. He actually got off the couch and was cutting paper into small airplane ship things and setting them up….I’ve never been so happy to see a paper mess on the floor…..and he even said he felt hungry…I jumped at that and said I would make him what ever he wanted. He wanted a piece of bread and some ramen noodles with egg in them. You got it buddy! The bread is the most solid thing he has eaten since the surgery.
I was so glad he was eating because earlier today he had a bad stomach ache which I think is from taking his medicine on an empty tummy. The stomach ache pain was bad enough that now he’ll at least take a few bites of something every time he has to have medicine.
I knew it was going to be a rough recovery for him, like I mentioned last week, he has never been accused of having a high pain tolerance. In the days leading up to the surgery we talked a lot about what to expect and how bad the pain would be and how important it was to take your medicine and stay hydrated.
By Sunday night I had convinced myself that this was going to be a piece of cake and he was going to handle it much better then I was expecting………..then he came out of the anesthesia. Oh My! It was so sad! He was hysterical, crying and saying, “I can’t take it, I can’t take it,” over and over. All I could think was, “Yikes, this is going to be a nightmare.”
There were three other children coming out of the same surgery and all of them were eating a popsicle and looking only slightly distressed. I just knew we were in for the longest two weeks of our life.
They gave him two doses of Fentanyl in his IV and then more codine. He finally calmed down, and to his credit we have not reached the hysterical, “I can’t take it,” level of pain since…….however, we did come close with the stomach ache pain today.
I am hopeful tomorrow will be a great day and he will want to eat lots of food. He looked soo soo skinny when he got in the tub tonight.
Thatcher has been more then happy to eat Conner’s share of dinner the last few days. He pounded four drumsticks tonight and LOVED the gravy. As you can see he made sure to get every drop by licking his plate. Such a silly boy! He also has been more than happy to sleep on the top bunk while Conner is recovering. He normally wakes up at 6:00 or 6:30 at the latest, every morning. Since sleeping on the bunk bed I have had to wake him up at 7:30 so he can get ready in time to catch the bus. He says, “Me just love that bed, it’s soooo cozy!” I’m thinking he may need to become the permanent resident of the top bunk.
Charlotte has been struggling the most out of anyone in the family. She doesn’t enjoy being stuck home all day with boring mom and a lethargic brother. She’s come close to losing her mind, which means I’ve also come close to loosing my mind. She was sooooo happy to have a play date at a friends house this morning. She had such a great time, that when I came to pick her up she ran away from me and tried to get back in the house so she could stay. Luckily for her another kind friend took pity on us and she gets to have another play date tomorrow morning.
Dad has also been a champ through all of this, and wakes up twice in the night to give Conner his medicine.
Here’s hoping that by next Thursday night Conner will be eating at the table with the rest of us!
Keep it Real!!!
Maria