Well there was a day! All the anxieties, the tears, the money spent on gifts and Lex was a bloody legend – cool as a cucumber all day. We had a two hour wait before he went into surgery, but no problem, hunger and all. There was plenty to do, take the climbing opportunities the doctor’s lockers represented!
I held him while they anesthetized him and he was great. Not to mention that I believe I was actually quite stoic at this point, but fuck isn’t it hard walking out looking at your child stretched out on the table…
The wake up afterwards was definitely the worst part of the day and my little love was all over the place, crying, confused, completely spun out – it took him a while to calm down and, while I’m sure my singing in a public place didn’t help the other patients, Lex seemed to appreciate it. The doc said it all went well and apparently Lex had two of the largest adenoids he’d ever seen – in fact, the two preceding patients’ tonsils combined were the same size as Lex’s adenoids – no wonder he always snored.
Steve finally got to see Lex when we came to his room, as Steve’s job that morning was Jax. It was pretty tough for Steve only getting involved at that point, but as always, he’s a beautiful Dad and he held Lexie tight for as long as he could.
A bonus of today is we’ve been able to do things with Lex we’ve never done – we got to sit with him on our laps for extended periods of time. Amazing. He also enjoyed doing some things he’s never done – like eating jelly and custard. Wasn’t interested in the ice-cream though – weirdo.
So it’s been a great day for us and I know his recovery will be swift. Within an hour of recovery he was already swinging off the pull up handle, so he’s well on the way.
Obviously being in a hospital, you can’t help but wonder about everyone else. There is the section of joy (the maternity ward), the section of normal everyday (like us) and then there’s the serious section. You see all sorts walking around – some angry, some sick, some tired, some overjoyed, some apathetic – it brings it all out. I watched a grown lad arrive in a wheel chair and he’d obviously broken his back along the way, and there were his parents – devoted, fit and happy to be doing what they had to do. I admired them.
Hospitals certainly attract all sorts of people and they level us out. We’re all in different but the same boat. Even if you are visiting someone and you’re well, the day will come when you will be in a hospital. It’s a bit challenging and confronting that.
But my hat goes off to the parents of children going through the really tough stuff. I honestly honestly don’t know how you do it, and I know that you do DO it because there is no choice, but crikey, this was hard enough!
Right time for sleep in a fold up bed with hourly interruptions… yeah it ain’t going to be a good night of sleep me thinks…
Yours, without the bollocks
Andrea
PS: I want to send my love to Laura, on her 21st day in hospital. You recover and get strong girl. We all love you.
