Wednesday

Wednesday morning at 5am Hubbo & I got up, dressed & ready for taking son#2 to the surgery center to see the dentist. He did well & wasn't freaked out or anything. They didn't make him put the bracelet on, they decided they could do that after he was out. Along with the IV. They didn't even make him change into a gown. He went back in what he wore there. The nurses were flexible once again, and son#2 didn't even mind the pre-op room we were waiting in. We weighed him which took some doing. Hubbo holding him up, me hold his feet on the scale. Son#2 came in at a whopping 110lbs!!

The anesthesiologist worried me some. He was a small man. So small I think I could take him. All I could think was, "THIS is the man that's supposed to hold the gas mask to my son's face?!" I was pretty sure son#2 could snap this man in half if he wanted to.

One of the things about having Autistic children is, you can peg people pretty quickly.
I can sum up someone on the phone, in person or walking by, on how they are viewing my child & their Autism. This doctor wasn't hearing us. He wasn't listening *in that special way wives mean when referring to their husbands* when I told him about son#2 pulling a large television down onto his leg and breaking it at age 2. And how it took a double dose of morphine to knock him out to set the leg. And even then, when the intern picked up his leg to set it, son#2 sat up & looked him. Then laid back down. That intern was freaked out.

I could just tell this guy wasn't going to believe me about how strong son#2 is. Well, he did LATER. He could see son#2 acting pleasant and personable. So what if he couldn't talk? Remember those cute, tiny, little dinosaurs on Jurassic Park? All cute, cocking their head to the side, almost smiling at you and then BAM! They all jump all over you wanting to eat you like a t-bone steak! That's son#2 if you hold him down. And that's the path this thing was traveling down, so I just waited.

The anesthesiologist was really bent on trying to get the "happy juice" down son#2. We tried cherry first, in a syringe. He was curious, but wouldn't go for it. Apparently he wasn't that hungry. I accidentally had some on my finger and licked it. (cooking habit) Then the doctor insisted we try another * this is where the nurse & I look at each other & roll our eyes like wives do about husbands when they aren't looking* relaxing cocktail, and this one was grape. Hubbo tasted the grape to see if it was horrible. We both agreed, it had a definite medicinal taste & a metallic after taste like you'd been licking a penny for 20 minutes. No wonder kids hate that stuff. That takes the happy out of it for sure.

Finally we were ready to go back & this is where Hubbo donned his surgical cap (blackmail picture was taken) and walked son#2 back to the OR. I waited for screams but didn't hear any. In my head I played out the dinosaurs eating the anesthesiologist, smiled & made my way to the waiting room. Hubbo's account is that son#2 was fine with being back there, even got on the gurney. Then they all jumped on him like on the Crocodile Hunter takes down a croc. One nurse had an arm (she ended up getting pinched), the dentist had one leg, another nurse had another leg and then Hubbo had one arm & was trying to help hold son#2's head still for the anesthesiologist. It took one full minute *really think about how long that would seem* before son#2 was under. Even then as they all took a step back to breathe, the anesthesiologist asked that they not leave the room yet, son#2 still felt tense. Ahem.;)

It took almost three hours. After eight years of non-brushing and no dental visits, son#2 had a lot of work that needed to be done. He had 5 teeth pulled. Two were abscess & puss filled. (that should give you an idea of his pain tolerance, another topic people tend not to believe me on)The rest they pulled were decayed. Then he had 8 fillings and 4 crowns. The dentist also fixed son#2's two front teeth. He no longer looks like Bunnicula. They did some cleaning, but I think they were all tired and it had taken longer than they thought it would.

We did convince the two male nurses we had in recovery to take the IV out of his foot (another good thought planned out by our awesome team) & the bracelet off before he woke up & started ripping at them. When son#2 started coming around he started screeching. We hurried him (this really involved Hubbo carrying him) out to the car when he could sit up because we knew the other people there in recovery wouldn't want to be listening to that. He was very cranky when home. I got the impression he wanted us to be quiet. He wanted to sleep, yet wouldn't let himself. Followed Hubbo around & sat with him everywhere he went. And just growled at us every so often. Then he'd kiss us. He maybe napped 30-45 min. But he didn't sleep the rest of the day. He was very, very mellow. Dr. Evan called to check on the "little" guy and complimented Hubbo on his agility in the OR with keeping son#2's hand from attacking as well as being able to keep the head still for the gas mask. We love our Dr. Evan---what a good Christian, caring man. God has called him to great things and we've been blessed to have him in our boys lives with his patience, and understanding.

Thursday son#2 got up at 3am, 4am & then stayed up at 6am. Between that & the previous day's roll call at 5am, we were beat. Son#2 did not have a good Thursday. He melted down more of the day than not. I think he was very frustrated at not being able to eat at the Michael Phelps pace he's used to. But today was much, much better. He's healing & was able to eat much more reasonable things today. Which just like in animals, means my carnivore is on the way to recovery.