Monday Was At It Again

Sam was having some stomach pains last week and ended up in the emergency room for a few hours. The poor guy was fairly certain he'd picked something up from a patient at the hospital there on that one occasion when he didn't wear gloves. After tests, he was sent home with pain meds and anti-nausea meds, and given an excuse to be off work for 2 days. But the nausea and pain continued off and on through the weekend, and Monday morning he woke me with the declaration that he needed to go back to the ER because he couldn't even wait until a doctor's office opened. He was in that much pain.

After more tests, they determined that his gall bladder was functioning at 3%. Considering that they normally remove that particular organ when it drops to 30% functionality, it's safe to say that his was pretty much a free loader with no other purpose left in life other than to cause problems. Stellar, no? So Sam had his gall bladder removed today, because we like to be spontaneous. And tackle problems head-on. And be pain free. 

I drove him to the hospital, of course, and then spent the day texting. I am a non-texter, so this was a big deal. And hard. (I think I just aged myself, didn't I?) I had to wake Becky before we left to tell her to get Micah up for school and be sure he had a lunch packed. I then texted to say that Josh had an appointment in a town an hour away and she'd probably need to take him to that for me. I texted back to say that she definitely needed to take him. I wouldn't be home by 9:00AM since they were just starting an hour long test at 8:00 and then I'd want to know the results. I texted to give the results and say that I'd be there for the remainder of the day, and then texted everyone else to say that Sam was going to be in surgery. I texted Becky to let her know that Micah had an appointment at the ENT's office at 3:00, which meant she'd have to get him out of school a bit early since school just let out at 3:00 and she had to account for travel time. And then made arrangements for my mother-in-law to meet Becky at the ENT's office since Becky had to leave for work before Micah would be seen, most likely. 

You guys, I didn't send a note to the school letting them know that Becky would be picking Micah up. The school had a coronary. And a huge discussion. And then called me to remind me that I should have sent a note. This was AFTER I'd called them to inform them that my husband was in emergency surgery and I wouldn't be able to work the next day. You guys, the passive aggressive in me is about to drop the passive part and be all aggressive on the school. When you're awakened an hour before your alarm goes off in the morning by a man begging to go to the emergency room, you're lucky to be coherent enough to put pants on, much less remember to write a pretty little note to the school that someone other than me would be picking Micah up. AND HOW THE HECK WAS I EVEN TO KNOW THAT WAS THE CASE WHEN I WENT TO THE HOSPITAL?! That whole "emergency" part of emergency surgery must be an elusive concept to grasp for some people. But the good news is that Becky was able to get Micah to his appointment. And the other good news is that his ear tubes are still in.

After my mother-in-law fed the boys dinner, she stopped by the hospital to visit Sam and let the boys see that dad was really okay. Micah doesn't do well when his loved ones are hospitalized. We know this from experience. It's disturbing for him. I chose to meet my MIL at the entrance and she took the older boys to see Sam while I took Micah, except Micah wanted to follow his brothers and I didn't have the fortitude to fight the boy. I figured we'd just calm him and remove him when he freaked the heck out. Except he didn't. He ate daddy's french fries and salad (why yes, Sam had french fries the night he had his gall bladder removed) and chatted with the boys and explored the room and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.

I processed that this was a huge thing, and I contemplated long and hard. First of all, my boy is growing up. Second, I can only come to the conclusion that Micah feeds solely off emotions. The last time a family member was hospitalized it was a very scary thing. A heart attack that caused temporary paralysis can do that. To say that the family was emotionally charged was an understatement. And Micah was frantic over seeing Pappy in a hospital bed. Today, I tried to keep the mood light as the boys came in, because the worst was over and Sam was completely okay, barring normal recover stuff. It was like a quieter version of being at home, except daddy was wearing a weird dress while laying in bed. And because the mood was far more of happy relief that it was all over and daddy was just fine, Micah wasn't even fazed by the situation. I was so proud of the boy.

And then he put on a mask and walked the halls, because he thought he was a doctor. I laughed heartily when he got looks of pity from passersby who thought he was a wee sick patient.