What a day!
I was going to update all of you yesterday, but I got busy and by the end of the day I was exhausted. So I'll share with you today!
Yesterday was Will's eye surgery date. I wasn't looking forward to it and neither was he. We tried talking to him about it on the way up to Des Moines. And I thought we had done a good job and he was feeling good about it until we parked the truck. He didn't even want to get out! We finally convinced him to get out, but the minute he stepped out the crying began. We checked him in and the kid threw a fit when she tried to put on his ID bracelet. I knew it wasn't going to be good after that. I'm not sure we even waited five minutes in the waiting room before they called us back. Once we were back there he kept crying, kicking, screaming "I want to go back to the truck" and carrying on. He wouldn't cooperate with the nurses at all. They finally got that thing that you put on your finger to check the oxygen and heartbeat - his heart rate was up to 147 bpm at one time! It reminded me of TJ when he would have his "fits." Then Dr. Suh came in. That guy is pretty good with kids. He got Will calmed down and even had him laughing. That quickly came to an end when they came to take him to surgery. They pried him off my lap and carried him kicking and screaming. I could hardly stand it. It's one of those things where you are so mad at the kid for the way he is acting and carrying on YET at the same time you feel so bad and helpless that you can't do more for him. We headed on out to the waiting room - I was trying not to cry myself. I just don't know how to help him get over his fears. He is fearful of absolutely everything. And it consumes him like I've never seen before. Within a few minutes one of the nurses came out and said within a couple of breaths he was out and that he did a great job. That made me feel better. I swear we didn't sit there long before they told us to go to the counseling room to speak with Dr. Suh. He told us that everything went great! It's hard for me to explain the surgery without using my hands (or face), so I'll do my best to describe what they did. Since his eye was crossing in they took the outer eye muscle and pulled it out. So his eye actually turns out now - this will only be temporary until the muscle relaxes. He also told us because of this his vision would be off and he could potentially see double for up to two weeks. He also told us no playing with balls or physical activity for two weeks. This could be a hard one - but the weather isn't going to be the greatest for the next couple of days so that will help. We then went back out to the waiting room until they called us back to go see Will. When we got back there they had him cuddled up in a blanket holding him. The nurse gave him to me and we cuddled in the chair until it was time to go home. I like that Will much better than the previous Will!! He got along really well. He did say at one point yesterday that he saw 2 Dads! He was pretty tired and groggy most of the day. He even complained of his tummy hurting part of the day. You know Will doesn't feel good when he doesn't eat! He finally ate a pretty decent supper which I was pleased to see.
Once we got home and I got Will settled in I went outside to work on TJ's flower garden. This was the one that TJ planted several years ago. It got neglected last year and needed a little TLC this year. As I worked on it my emotions flew from one extreme to the other. By the time I got done I was exhausted both physically and emotionally.
I took a little break and then decided to tackle the car. It needed cleaned out in the inside pretty bad. I worked on it in Jon's shop, so I set up a lawn chair for Will to hang out in. I thought the nice weather and fresh air would do him some good. We put some sun glasses on him and out we went. I tell you cleaning out the car is WAY easier than van ever was. It didn't take me near as long - which made it even better (that is one job I don't like to do). While I was finishing that up I got a call from Mom saying Dad had hitched up the mules and they were headed over. We got done with the car, I checked to make sure the boys didn't have homework and we packed up some food for supper. Mom and Dad got there and we loaded up in the wagon and rode back over to Mom and Dad's. It was nice. I know the boys enjoyed it too. I believe it was the perfect ending to an exhausting, emotional day. Charlie even got to drive the mules! That's when the ride got a little crazy!! Not really. We got to Mom & Dad's had supper, dessert and then Mom brought us back home. I gave Will his drops and medicine and tucked all the boys in for bed. I picked up the house a bit. Jon came in for the night, I warmed up some supper and it was off to bed.
Will slept all through the night which I am thankful for. He is doing pretty well today too - we even worked on part of his homework. He should be able to go back to school tomorrow and then we go back up to the doctor on Friday. Hoping he says everything looks great! I'm glad that day is over. Hopefully this surgery works better than the previous one and Will's vision will continue to improve. Continue to pray for healing, that surgery is successful and he won't fight putting the eye drops in. Only 76 more drops to go!!
Yesterday was Will's eye surgery date. I wasn't looking forward to it and neither was he. We tried talking to him about it on the way up to Des Moines. And I thought we had done a good job and he was feeling good about it until we parked the truck. He didn't even want to get out! We finally convinced him to get out, but the minute he stepped out the crying began. We checked him in and the kid threw a fit when she tried to put on his ID bracelet. I knew it wasn't going to be good after that. I'm not sure we even waited five minutes in the waiting room before they called us back. Once we were back there he kept crying, kicking, screaming "I want to go back to the truck" and carrying on. He wouldn't cooperate with the nurses at all. They finally got that thing that you put on your finger to check the oxygen and heartbeat - his heart rate was up to 147 bpm at one time! It reminded me of TJ when he would have his "fits." Then Dr. Suh came in. That guy is pretty good with kids. He got Will calmed down and even had him laughing. That quickly came to an end when they came to take him to surgery. They pried him off my lap and carried him kicking and screaming. I could hardly stand it. It's one of those things where you are so mad at the kid for the way he is acting and carrying on YET at the same time you feel so bad and helpless that you can't do more for him. We headed on out to the waiting room - I was trying not to cry myself. I just don't know how to help him get over his fears. He is fearful of absolutely everything. And it consumes him like I've never seen before. Within a few minutes one of the nurses came out and said within a couple of breaths he was out and that he did a great job. That made me feel better. I swear we didn't sit there long before they told us to go to the counseling room to speak with Dr. Suh. He told us that everything went great! It's hard for me to explain the surgery without using my hands (or face), so I'll do my best to describe what they did. Since his eye was crossing in they took the outer eye muscle and pulled it out. So his eye actually turns out now - this will only be temporary until the muscle relaxes. He also told us because of this his vision would be off and he could potentially see double for up to two weeks. He also told us no playing with balls or physical activity for two weeks. This could be a hard one - but the weather isn't going to be the greatest for the next couple of days so that will help. We then went back out to the waiting room until they called us back to go see Will. When we got back there they had him cuddled up in a blanket holding him. The nurse gave him to me and we cuddled in the chair until it was time to go home. I like that Will much better than the previous Will!! He got along really well. He did say at one point yesterday that he saw 2 Dads! He was pretty tired and groggy most of the day. He even complained of his tummy hurting part of the day. You know Will doesn't feel good when he doesn't eat! He finally ate a pretty decent supper which I was pleased to see.
Once we got home and I got Will settled in I went outside to work on TJ's flower garden. This was the one that TJ planted several years ago. It got neglected last year and needed a little TLC this year. As I worked on it my emotions flew from one extreme to the other. By the time I got done I was exhausted both physically and emotionally.
I took a little break and then decided to tackle the car. It needed cleaned out in the inside pretty bad. I worked on it in Jon's shop, so I set up a lawn chair for Will to hang out in. I thought the nice weather and fresh air would do him some good. We put some sun glasses on him and out we went. I tell you cleaning out the car is WAY easier than van ever was. It didn't take me near as long - which made it even better (that is one job I don't like to do). While I was finishing that up I got a call from Mom saying Dad had hitched up the mules and they were headed over. We got done with the car, I checked to make sure the boys didn't have homework and we packed up some food for supper. Mom and Dad got there and we loaded up in the wagon and rode back over to Mom and Dad's. It was nice. I know the boys enjoyed it too. I believe it was the perfect ending to an exhausting, emotional day. Charlie even got to drive the mules! That's when the ride got a little crazy!! Not really. We got to Mom & Dad's had supper, dessert and then Mom brought us back home. I gave Will his drops and medicine and tucked all the boys in for bed. I picked up the house a bit. Jon came in for the night, I warmed up some supper and it was off to bed.
Will slept all through the night which I am thankful for. He is doing pretty well today too - we even worked on part of his homework. He should be able to go back to school tomorrow and then we go back up to the doctor on Friday. Hoping he says everything looks great! I'm glad that day is over. Hopefully this surgery works better than the previous one and Will's vision will continue to improve. Continue to pray for healing, that surgery is successful and he won't fight putting the eye drops in. Only 76 more drops to go!!
This picture was taken from his last surgery! There was NO WAY we were ever going to get a picture taken yesterday!
Praying for Will.
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