post op progress

the following is a photographic representation of what it's like for two boys to have and recover from surgery at the same time.  (unedited iphone photos)

meme snapped this pic on her phone. early morning in the waiting room at children's hospital north surgery center.

quietly taking turns playing angry birds.

pre-op. harrison looks angry but really they were both just sleepy. they were in good spirits. harrison chose to bring stinger the stingray into surgery with him. graham chose manny the manatee.

the pre-op nurse, marcia, was fabulous with both boys. she brought in a bucket of cars to keep them occupied. at one point she asked the boys if they had any questions and harrison asked where's the pepperoni pizza? which caused graham to ask where's the macaroni and cheese?. sweet marcia played along with their silly requests, went away and came back a few minutes later with a color photo print out of my kiddos favorite foods.

pre-op selfie. jeremy walked back to the operating room with graham while i stayed with harrison. then i walked harrison back. they allowed us to stay with them until they were asleep.

graham took this pic of jer. oh and graham was also excited about the television saying wow they have free tv!  cracked me up.

here's graham post op. this was after he finished puking and crying and panicking and finally calmed down and went back to sleep. i must admit this was the first moment i thought oh my gosh what did i just put my boy through?

here's harrison post op. this was after he stopped kicking and fighting and crying and finally calmed down and went back to sleep. i was in recovery with graham when they brought harrison out of surgery. there is a reason why they don't bring parents back to the recovery area until kids have settled down somewhat. it was absolutely awful to hear him as he was waking up. i was kind of freaking out because the nurses were loud and stern with him - not mean, not at all, but far too loud for his superhero ears. jeremy came back and took over with graham so i could go quietly, calmly, softly comfort and reassure harrison.

it wasn't long before we loaded up and headed home.

 this is harrison on the drive home. face in puke bowl (which i smartly brought from home. it's an old 32 oz. yogurt container. we don't leave home without them) with ice pack on forehead and neck. fast asleep. he puke once on the way home.

here's grumpy graham on the drive home. ice pack on neck, puke bowl in hand. he puked once on the way home too.

this is me on the way home, sitting between the boys in the back, dishing out the ice chips and kleenex.

home and settled.

finally waking up a bit to watch a cartoon.

first post surgical popsicle.

harrison has probably only spoken a few words since surgery. he prefers to type his thoughts on my phone. sweet boy.

day two.

day three.

day three. graham started to run a fever.

day four.

day four.

this was yesterday. day five. my only goal for the day was to get them dressed in real clothes.

day five. we actually opened the front door and windows and let some sunshine in! it was MUCH needed.

in the late afternoon when they were feeling the best we went outside for a bit. i don't think either of them were thrilled about it but the fresh air and sunlight did lots to lift MY spirits. why does this image of graham remind me of john cusack in say anything? i think it's the pants/boots.

all graham needs is a trench coat and a ghetto blaster.  ha! i just typed ghetto blaster!

we tried to putt a few golf balls.

today we are on day six. last night was the most difficult by far which seemed odd to me. perhaps i pushed them too much with the fresh air yesterday?? in any event i am upstairs quickly writing this post and have left them to watch a cartoon by themselves. i'd say that's progress. up until this point i've been at their beck and call 24/7, literally spooning ice chips and holding water bottles and squirting medicine and wiping noses and cutting pears into bits and scooping them into their sore mouths. it's a job i've been happy to do but it's not without exhaustion. it's good to step away for a few minutes and allow my brain to focus on something else.

it's also good to post these photos and see that we are actually recovering - slowly but surely. i was quite naive about how this would affect them. it has been very hard to see them in such pain and to know i'm the one who gave the okay to put them through it. i knew my boys were brave and tough but this process has convinced me even more!

okay...i better get back downstairs and check on them.