Laser Treatment #2

So here's how it all went down.

We left bright and early after the most awful, horrendous, terrible night we've had in a long time. Chickster was up crying five times. FIVE TIMES. This, from my boy who goes to bed at 7:30 and we don't hear a peep from him until the next morning. So needless to say, neither Husband nor I got much sleep. I'm not sure what the deal was, only that he didn't eat well all day, so I don't think he was feeling 100%.

NLB, however, slept like an angel. I know this because he told me. He came over to spend the night and hang with Argus for a while on Friday. It's nice to have a brother who doesn't mind sleeping over in order to take care of the four-footed member of the family. Oh, and eat my leftover pancakes. Because seriously, there's no way I would've eaten them all. Brothers are good for all sorts of things.

Anyway, we made it to Children's a bit early. And I was glad. Chickster had slept for 10 whole minutes during the trip and was really getting tired of being in his carseat. Not to mention being tired from not sleeping the night before and waking up early.

We got checked in up front and had barely warmed our seats when the nurse called us back to get Chickster's pre-op stuff rolling.

And you'll never guess what she said.

"Weren't ya'll here last week?"

Oh yes she did.

As nonchalantly as possible, I explained that we were supposed to have been there, but when I called to get our time, I'd been told our appointment had been cancelled. She didn't have much to say about that.

So I don't know what happened, but we must've still been on somebody's list last Tuesday.

Anyway, we spent the next two hours in a pre-op room, trying to keep Chickster occupied and not let him remember he was hungry. And trying to keep his enormous yellow scrubs from falling off of him. I think the pants were rolled up about 11 times.

Everyone that came in to check on us and do all the pre-op stuff was kind and told us how cute he was (as if we didn't know). He finally fell asleep while watching Olympic track & field. See, the Olympics are good for so many things.

And finally it was our turn. The two nurses that came to get him fussed about who would get to carry him back. Apparently they are lacking in cute babies around there. We gave hugs and kisses at the OR doors, and went to wait.

Less than 10 minutes later, LBD was telling us all had gone well and we had a stellar patient. She didn't up the laser strength this time because we'd seen excellent progress with it where it was, and she doesn't like to up the strength until she has to. And she wants to see him back in three months for a third round.

A few minutes later, they called us back into Recovery, where Chickster was still asleep. I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of his face - still is something he's not very often. Our recovery nurse, Ms. J, was very sweet. We woke Chickster up and he started to fuss a little when he saw me, but was just fine once he was in my arms and snuggled.

And then he got to eat. And finally take the glowing toe strap (the pulse ox monitor) off. That thing drove him crazy. He held onto it the entire time he was eating, then when Ms. J and I were taking off all the heart rate monitors, he kept pulling at it. Note to self: take the toe thing off first next time. The boy obviously can't stand having his toe out of comission.

Less than an hour after Chickster went back for surgery, we were walking out the door of the hospital. And went to eat lunch, where Chickster pounded about a million Cheerios and I was praising Jesus for Schlotzsky's.

The trip home was uneventful. Well, as uneventful as it can be with random downpours so hard you can barely see the road and a boy who alternates between being giddy with laughter and fussing because he doesn't want to be in his carseat. However, he did sleep for an entire hour, which was wonderful. Then he spent the rest of the way home trying not to go back to sleep.

We made it home in time for dinner. Chickster was ready to play, play, play. I felt like I'd been beaten with a stick. A big one. I think Husband felt the same way. I will go ahead and admit right now that we counted the minutes until bedtime. Chickster's and ours.

The good news is that Chickster went to bed and slept like a little angel. He woke up at 6:15, which is a bit early for him, but then he went back to sleep and didn't get up until nearly 8:00. That's practically unheard of around here.

Chickster's appetite was in full force this morning, as were his wiggles. I'm still exhausted, but if it weren't for the giant purple dots on his face, you'd never know he had such a long day yesterday.

And that's good. Because he's napping now, and I'm going to be soon!