On December 21 2010, Will and I took Zeb to the hospital for his surgery appointment. The previous day I had put in to take 3 vacation days so I could spend them with my son. I did this in the morning. By the afternoon I got a phone call from HR telling me I should take "special leave" for this because it is for death or illness. So I deleted my request for vacation days (which had been approved) and put in for the special leave. More on that later.
We arrived at the hospital and he was being prepared for the surgery. We walked him into the room, but they didn't administer the drug while we were present. I didn't like this part. When it was time for my surgery in the states, Will was there up until I counted back from 10. So I was worried about Zeb but Will had planned ahead to distract me.
A friend of mine arrived at the hospital just as we were being escorted out of surgery to have coffee with me. So we sat and chatted for the hour while we waited for Zeb to be finished. It was a very nice conversation with a friend who has been around for the last two years and whom I have really enjoyed spending time with. A good portion of the conversation was discovering that she will not be returning next year. Sad for me, but good for her. I am glad that they are going on to bigger and brighter things.
At an hour after it started, the surgery was over and the doctor leaned over the railing to inform us (we were on the first floor, he was on the second) that Zeb was in recovery and we could go in now. So we said goodbye to our friend and up we went. I went right in and found my baby moaning. I held him and let him know I was there and let him cry as he needed to. He was drooling blood and wanted it out of his mouth, so I manned a little tissue box and was handing him tissues as he wiped his mouth. He signaled to me that he wanted another pillow (complex sign language for someone going in and out of consciousness) and I was able to get him another pillow.
Then he lay back down and fell back asleep. It wasn't a deep sleep, but he was no longer moaning. Whenever he came to he wanted to spit. But then he would go back to sleep. The attendant in the room gave me a little jar with Zeb's tonsils and adenoids in it. He had asked the doctor if he could keep them. He had said yes, so we did. I have them at home on my book shelf. They will stay there until we get the photos for Zeb, and he has the chance to show his friend. Then we are going to bury them in the backyard. Deep.
On with the tale. Zeb spent an hour in recovery and then they put him on his hospital bed and moved him back into his private room. Room 313. He was suppose to be in 327 but when we arrived there was someone already there. So we were moved to 313. and 13 being my lucky number, I took it as a good sign.
He was tired and slept most of the time. We had brought a lot of books with us and I sat there with him until 3pm. He was ready to take a long nap and I told him I was going home to get a shower and dinner. He didn't want to do anything but sleep. He had already had ice cream and jello (they call it jelly here... weird) but just wanted to sleep. He said goodbye to us and Will took my home for dinner and a shower. Then I packed a small bag to bring with me of clothes and different books. And a bag of videos and borrowed Rae's DVD player. Then we went back to the hospital. We set up the DVD player and Zeb wanted to watch the sorcerers apprentice. We really enjoyed it. Even Zeb. Afterward, he was ready for bed. So we got the bed set up. He went to sleep.
Then the hospital brought in a visitors bed so I could sleep next to him. It was a bed that folded up small and could lay out so I could sleep near him. I should have slept on the sofa. It had this horrible metal bar in the middle and it hurt my back and hips when I slept on it. Wish I had been smart enough to just shift to the sofa.
Anyway, in the morning we both had breakfast. Then the doctor came in and checked him out and declared him fit to go home. I packed everything up and by the time it was all packed up and Zeb had finished his meal, Will was there to take us Home.
I get back to work and find that I have been denied the Special Leave because it is really meant for bereavement. For heavens sake! I had wanted to take my vacation days in the first place. HR was really apologetic for putting me through all of that and wanted to know if I wanted to take my vacation days. Which they have now approved, so it all worked out in the end.
On a continuing note... Zeb is now talking, eating pizza, and having regular foods (plus tea). He gargles every night with hydrogen peroxide.
As for the talking. Have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3 yet? In that movie there is a sequence where Kira Knightley's character has been declared the king of the pirates. She declares war. And a turbaned pirate says "and so we go to war" in a voice that makes Johnny Depp's eyebrow crawl up his forehead. When Zeb started talking, that was the voice that he had. It is starting to deepen back to his normal range, but it was sure funny to hear him talk. Especially when the second thing he said to me was "and so we go to war". Very funny and I laughed out loud.
So to sum up, Zeb had his tonsils out for Christmas. And his voice back for his birthday.
We have had the follow up meeting and the doctor says he is doing great.
Crissy
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