Spring Break: Update

Here’s an update on Silas’ arm situation.

First of all, Soman Chainani, author of Silas’ current favorite series is The Dude. Check this out:

He had his surgery on Tuesday. It was Very EARLY. We both were kind of having a rough time with that–we had to be at the hospital by 6:30 am. As Silas said, “Wait, six-thirty in the morning?”

He was nervous about it, but the pre-op nurses were very kind to him, which helped. He kept saying that all the machines looked like “an alien torture chamber.” The nurses explained to him what all the things were for, which helped.

The surgery itself was quick–about 20 minutes, tops. He was kind of freaked out afterward. As he came out of the anesthesia, he looked disoriented. That was creepy to see. He was kind of staring blankly into space and then crying. But before I knew it, he was back to his usual sunny self. They gave him chocolate pudding and some meds for the pain.

I knew he was fine when the nurse brought her stethoscope and said, “I need to listen to your heart,” and he pointed to his chest: “Here, in the left pap!” That’s my boy.

And then we went home… The couple days after the surgery were sort of harder than the surgery itself. He was pretty depressed about what he couldn’t do, and angry about the whole situation. His new wrap is way bigger than what he had before, and that’s making it harder for him to manage things. He didn’t do well with sitting on the couch for two whole days, either, but he was nervous about taking a break from having his arm iced and elevated. I told him it would be fine, but he insisted, “The nurses told me to keep it elevated for forty-eight hours, Mom!”

Now (Thursday) he’s doing a bit better. He went to Funschool today and enjoyed seeing his friends. He has his follow-up appointment tomorrow and maybe will get his hard cast then. I hope they don’t do anything that hurts too much, but I’m bracing myself for another couple of down days before he finds his way around the world again. Every change seems to plunge him into despair.

I’m grateful we got through this phase, though. Here’s hoping that what comes next is better.