Post Surgery Day Two

Oh boy. This surgery isn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be. And although I know I should rest and take it easy, and I am, I really dislike laying here on the couch doing much of nothing.

So, during moments of lucidity (ie. as the pain medication wears off before the next dose) I’ve tried my best to spend a little bit of time with my boy. We tried our hand at Jenga.

Jenga was fun, but I wasn’t too good at it. I think my prone position didn’t help. Little Brooks had a blast, though, and afterwards spent a good hour building structures out of the blocks and photographing them. He even showed some to Big Brooks when he called us via Skype.

Later in the day we tried our hand at balloon volleyball, albeit with different rules, since again, I was in a prone position. And yes, he won at that too. I think I’m at a great disadvantage.

After a playdate with the neighbor Little Brooks and I started an art project that usually would take us an hour or so to complete, but which might take us a few days to complete. I’m okay with that, since I am trying to rest. Really, and truly.

I found different websites that had crayon shaving melted art projects. And it occurred to me that Little Brooks could pick out crayon colors, we could shave them, and melt them between wax paper. We did all that today. The next part of the project will be to cut out shapes out of the wax paper, punch holes in them and set them up in a mobile made out of the crayon shaving melted wax shapes and wire. I figure the snowflakes in the dining room corner need to be replaced and thought that a mobile would look neat in that corner. Brooksy is all for the idea and I can’t wait for it to be finished so we can hang it up.

My day was made decidedly brighter when a friend from college had an edible arrangement with balloons sent to me. How sweet of her! And it arrived just when I was beginning to feel hungry! Perfect timing if I do say so myself!

Although my days been trying at times, I can’t complain. Tomorrow I’m bound to feel better, for sure.

The smallest Brooks – The biggest helper

I definitely underestimated how painful this surgery would be, after the fact. I am extremely thankful that I readied my house for the surgery and walked Brooks through different tasks in the home that he would need to take care of while I was recouperating.

My baby boy has been such a stellar nurse. I am so thankful for his presence and thoughtfulness.

He was super responsible, calling my sister every two hours to touch base with her, fielding phone calls, helping me to the bathroom, bringing me drinks, waking me up to take my medication, holding my hand and soothing me, and being the sweet boy he is. This morning, at six am the girls needed to relieve themselves. I could hear JayJay desperately pawing at the door and crying to be let out. But if you know my dogs you know they are jumpers and twirl around super excited to see us. I knew I couldn’t go in there to let them out. I called Brooks to let them out. He got up, eyes still closed and full of sleep, kissed me on the forehead, let the girls out, back in, and then brought me a drink because he thought I might be thirsty. And then he plopped himself back down and went back to sleep.

It’s exciting to see the young man that he’s becoming, the moments of pure sweetness and thoughtfulness that peek out and make me so proud of who he will someday undoubtedly be.

And as always, I remain thankful for all the wonderful friends who have checked in on me, who have taken care of me, and whose concern and love humble me. Life remains good, regardless of the circumstances. And as Little Brooks aptly reminded me this morning, his Daddy’s words on his lips, “Remember Mommy, pain is just temporary. This too will pass,” My funny little man!

in which we spend most of our day doing pre-op related things, including the dreaded fort hood pharmacy

Today was the last day that I had left to run all my errands and get myself organized before my surgery.

I’m a planner. Being a planner and being a spouse in the military go hand in hand, though I’ve learned, as all military spouses inevitably do, that being a planner also entails being flexible because things are bound to change. I think I find myself more surprised when things go as planned than when things change.

That being said, with Brooks being gone, I’m relying on my friends to help get me through the next several weeks of being off my foot – which includes my inability to drive. I’m extremely grateful for all the support we’ve been given, already, even before surgery day, and remain thankful for all the people in my life that we are able to rely on.

But I hate asking for help. I loathe it, detest it, abhor it. I love helping others but when it comes to asking for help it’s extremely difficult for me to see myself in a position where I need someone to give me a hand. So in a way, this surgery is a good thing because it’ll force me to become more comfortable with the notion that yes, from time to time, I do need help.

In preparation for my surgery I triple cleaned the house. Yes, triple cleaned. The knowledge that I probably won’t be able to clean for a few days is really bugging me. I chalk it up to my self diagnosed OCD. It is what it is. I put t-shirts on my girls so they wouldn’t shed everywhere. We stocked the fridge and pantry with food, including three gallons of milk. That Boy can put down a 1/2 gallon a day. I planted some new ground cover under my tree out back. We ran a bazillion errands.  I did my homework for the next two weeks. And we put on some music and danced today; my feet won’t be able to do that in a while and I love dancing with my boy.

The last things on my list were to run to my pre-op appointment and then get my prescriptions filled for surgery day. Easy, or so I thought. I’m not quite sure why pre-op took so long, but it did. And then we headed to the dreaded Darnall pharmacy. We had yet to pick up Brooks’ new inhalers and I needed to get them before I found myself car-less for a while. So off we went. And yes, after a super duper long wait we were once again told that one of my prescriptions, my pain medication to be exact, was not available and I’d have to go off post. Sugar!

So needless to say, my pre-op began at eleven and we didn’t make it home until almost six.

I’m so thankful I had all my other stuff done already or I would have been super stressed.

And I’m super thankful for Brooks’ non-stop chatter. Our conversations were pretty interesting. At one point he gave me a dissertation on the kind of wife he’ll be looking for some day. I find it cute and funny all at once that he thinks about those things. He seemed so sure of what he wanted in a wife so I thought to ask him what he thought his future wife might see in him that would pique her interest. Among his answers? His stellar dance moves (hello, Blue Tornado Feet!), humor, kindness, passion for video games (really, he thinks this is a sticking point), creativity, and conversational skills. Funny little man!

So tomorrow is the day. Keep me in your prayers! And a super huge thanks to Kat for being my surgery escort tomorrow (girl, I’m so nervous, I’m going to tell you a bazillion times I feel like puking) and Dalia for watching My Boy tomorrow. You guys are amazing! Thanks for taking some time out of your Spring Breaks to take care of Little Ol’ Me!