behind us

Yes, it is over, and I hope that life gets back to normal relatively quickly.

Lucas is sleeping right now, without me by his side... so that is good! He even willingly went to bed. Here's how our day began...

I was up at 3:30 AM, after a whopping 4 hours of sleep. My mom arrived at 4 AM, after no hours of sleep. We were off to a great start. I woke Lucas up at 4:15, and *luckily* he peed on the potty for me before we left. He was in a good mood, and happily reported, "Mommy, I sleep through the night!" We were on the road by 4:20, and we arrived at CHOP at 5:40. You gotta love no traffic!!!

Surprisingly, when we reached surgery reception, there were already lots of people waiting. Lucas was called back at 6:07, and we hung out, meeting with about 10 different people, until 7:30 when they took him back to surgery.

Our nurse was really great, and she was with him both before and after surgery. He was a little skeptical of all of the prodding at times, but he was very cooperative. The *giggle* juice that they use to decrease anxiety started working just a few minutes before they took him back, but was quite effective. He didn't mind leaving us at all.

Oma and I checked in at surgery waiting, then headed to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast. We brought it back up to eat, just in case they came around with an update. By 9:00, I had already spoken with the surgeon, and they came to get us to see him. Surgery went well, and he believes that he removed enough tissue and cartilage that it won't return. Lucas slept for another 2 hours (thankfully they let him do so this time). It was perfect, because our nurse was just about to wake him up when he awoke on his own.

The only comments I got from him about the procedures of the day were, "Mommy, I don't want a shot," (wish granted), and "Mommy, this hurts," when she was removing all the tape from his IV area (the whole way up his forearm). He was happy to eat a popsicle, and then we left. On the way home, he vomited once (not surprisingly), but Oma was quick and caught it. He wasn't sick the rest of the day!

Lucas slept much of the way home, and we were home by 1 PM. Lucas was very insistent on eating and drinking, so I'm glad his stomach was able to handle it. I filled his pain medication prescription, but he would.not.take.it. I called the pharmacy for advice and they said they could add flavoring & decrease the bitterness, but he still.would.not.take.it. We some how forced it in him, but from now on, I'm just giving him Tylenol.

He napped again from 5:30-6:30, and I was afraid that he wouldn't go to sleep at a decent hour. But, at 7:30, he was ready for bed. He insisted on a bath, and I'm sure it made him feel better. I just wouldn't let him get his hair wet. We read some stories, and I think he was asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.

I hope he has a good night. I'm really hoping to send him to camp tomorrow. We'll see how he feels.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Let summer really begin!