Jasper's Thumb Surgery

Jasper had his long awaited thumb surgery on Tuesday (May 14). His thumb looked like this...

and when he complained about it feeling tight, we went back to the doctors and they said they would operate to loosen it, and try to straighten it. Jasper wanted it chopped off at the joint, but they declined!

We didn't have to get to the hospital until 11am,as he was on the afternoon schedule. That meant no eating after 7am, and no only clear fluids between 7am and 11am. He had a HUGE breakfast, and nothing else to eat or drink after 6.45am.
I was in the same boat - I can't eat if he isn't allowed to... just doesn't seem fair.

They didn't seem to understand my need for Jasper to have a blood count done prior to surgery, and when they finally GOT IT, the phlembotomist (vampire), didn't get enough blood to get a good count done. GRRRR. All of this pushed us further down the surgery list, and so instead of going in at 2.15pm, it was 4.45pm. The surgeon said it should take about 30 minutes, but it was about 6.30pm before I  saw him.

Here are some pre-surgery photos.
Initially, we were in a group room with other "day surgery" kids waiting for surgery... slowly they went in one by one, until we were the last ones left.
Then they started coming back, all post surgery, so they asked Jasper and I to move to a small treatment room... it was better, a bed, quiet, and surgical gloves!!! We played a bit!!

 Then in the pre-op bay, we had to wait for the surgeons and anesthetics consultant. Jasper found a trike! In between complaining about hunger, he had a zoom around!

Post surgery was a bit different from biopsy... he wouldn't wake up!! One of the nurses in the post-op bay had a cold wash cloth and was wiping it over his face talking to him REALLY loud! I didn't like it. There was another little girl they were trying to bring around by tickling her with a tissue! Meanie.

He finally woke up enough to drink some juice, hold it down, and open his eyes, so they let us go home. It was almost 8.30pm.

He came home with no pain relief, just the words of "paracetamol", as he can't have ibuprofen.

Wednesday saw Jasper at my bedside saying "it hurts really bad" at 3.30am. I gave him a dose of paracetamol and sent him back to bed. Then he was at me again at 6.30am. I gave him more at 7.30am.

The day saw a LOT of this:

 which made the following happen:

Wednesday, 3.30pm saw me dropping Molly at my parents again... (she had slept there Tuesday night). Jasper and I headed to the hospital as he was SCREAMING in pain, saying it was 8/10.

We were fast tracked through emergency, and they cut the bandages off, took the cast off, and this was the best photo I could get:

 Jasper demanded I do NOT take a photo, as he was freaking out. I am queasy as anything, but had a good look once they took all the coverings off... It looked AMAZING! There are 2 pins sticking out the top of his thumb, and the stitches now go from his existing scar all the way up his thumb! Jasper is now demanding that I take a photo of it, so I will as soon as I can!

The doctor said we should stay the night to get the pain under control, and we got some hard core meds into Jasper.

Before Oxycodone:

 During Oxycodone:

 After Oxycodone: (yes, I took in school work... no change of clothes, or phone charger, but I took maths!!)

 Here he is getting the old cast removed and a new plastic splint-like cast fitted... Nick, the physio said I was free to take photos, as long as I didn't get him in them!

 This set up worked much better.. it doesn't put as much pressure on his thumb, and we can remove it to air his arm out when it starts to get stinky!

 At home, with a very tired momma!

 It doesn't take long to get back to normal around here... tormenting his sister on the swing...

 swinging (albeit with one arm)

Jasper seems to be ok once the pain meds kick in... but he is watching the clock to see when his next dose is. I am only giving him a half dose of the oxycodone and seeing how he goes with that. The paracetamol is 6am, 12 noon and 6pm.

We have a follow up with the surgical team on Wednesday, so will know more then!

Thanks for reading,

Brooke

Molly Turns THREE

It does feel like yesterday when this little bundle of love arrived in our arms.. a super quick labour, arrival at the hospital and 20 minutes later she was there... One night in hospital, and our little family of 3 was under one roof as a family of 4.
Jasper was besotted from the first... he wanted a brother, and still sometimes complains that he wants one, but they love each other so much! (even when screaming at each other!)

Yesterday, May 4th, marked the anniversary of the birth of Molly Ann Miles.
She is no longer a little baby. She is a three year old sassy madam who has a strong mind of her own, voices her opinions very clearly, sings her two times tables, is very independant ("I got this mumma" is a frequent phrase!), and completes our family.

This is what 3 looks like at 7am... bed hair and all!!

 Birthday snuggles from daddy and Jasper

 The presents!!!!!

 Jasper wanted to get in and "help", so he did the cards!!

 All motion, no being still!!

 Molly's big-big brother got her this noisy little pup... it yaps and walks!

 Playing horses with daddy

 Jasper had some friends over.. Molly loves them both.

 Molly's little friend, Viv. Double trouble, double cuteness!

 The super awesome cake, made by momma.

 Getting ready to cut the cake with Jasper.

 The inside of the delicious cake, again, made by momma.... I am pretty proud of myself!!

 Walking down to the park, with big brother Jasper, and big-big brother Brent!

 "cup of tea, mummy?"

Molly decided she did not need to sleep on her birthday. She coped really well!
Presents galore, cake and lollies.... she had a super awesome day with our family.

One week and one day til Jasper's hand operation, and then the end of June sees my first born baby turn 10. Yes, people, that's right. TEN!!!

I think I just got another grey hair!!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

Operations are not just for Jasper....

So, this is a post about ME. All about ME.
It doesn't happen very often, but I felt I deserved this one...

I had some bad belly pains a few months ago. Really bad. It hurt to eat, it hurt to not eat. It hurt to walk, sit, breathe.. you name it, it hurt. The only thing that made the pain go away a bit was a scalding hot shower.

I went to my doctor, and she took blood, but it showed nothing much. Then the pain went. I didn't give it a second thought.

Then 2 1/2 weeks ago, it started again. It was a Saturday, and I just expected the pain to go away in the afternoon as it had previously. It didn't. It got worse.
Luckily, Paul was home, so he took charge of the kids, and I went to the emergency department at the local hospital. The pain wasn't so bad that I couldn't drive, and I didn't really want the kids coming with us, so the best option was for me to take myself.

They put a cannula in and put me on fluids. I was given strong pain killers and just waited waited waited.I told my parents where I was, because if they had found out after the fact that I was in ED and not told them, they would have been REALLY cross with me!
Dad came up for a bit, but the doctor decided that I could go home with a script for the pain killers and instructions to see my local doctor on Monday.
Off I went to my doctor, who gave me a referral for an endoscopy and an ultrasound. I had to wait a week for these.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up and felt great. No pain, I felt like I was over it again!
Then I got out of bed.
I was so crippled with pain, I could barely breathe.
Jasper packed his own school bag, and I had called a friend to come and pick him up to take him to school. I called my mum, said "I need you", and she was on her way. Then I called another friend to look after Molly for the day for me.
My friend who was looking after Molly came and packed us all in the car, drove Jasper to his ride, and then took me to the hospital to see the doctors again... Dad was already there waiting for me, and mum was on her way.

They admitted me after a bit, and did an ultrasound.
Turns out I had gall stones... My gall bladder had to come out. AND there were some additional stones floating around somewhere that needed to come out too. The plan was that I would have surgery Tuesday night, they would get the loose stones, and I would go home Wednesday!

Here is the first cannula they put in. The doctor in ED took blood from both arms before he was told I needed a cannula... He tried 2 times to get one in my hand as I requested, but couldn't get it, so this is where it went. I don't do needles, so this whole experience was quite traumatic!

So surgery was a kind of success... My gall bladder was removed by keyhole surgery - 4 little cuts.It's amazing actually!
The bad news was the loose roaming stones were not able to be retireved... there goes my plan for being home on Wednesday!
Here is what my tummy looked like a few hours after surgery..

Looking lovely on the oxygen... there was no sleep being had in the hospital!

 I had to go to another hospital via ambulance patient transfer for the second surgery to get those slippery little stones, so that was booked for Thursday. I am happy to say we had SUCCESS!!!
I was pretty happy, as I had not really had anything to eat since Monday night, and this was Thursday! I had to wait for breakfast before I could eat.

Paul was working in Vietnam all the week I was in hospital. We were text messaging, and he sent me a picture of what he was having for dinner...

So, I showed him what I was allowed to eat... I know what I'd rather have had!! (and it ain't the ice cream!)

Just because we don't like to do things by halves, Paul has to go and get his toe squashed by a motorbike while he is in Vietnam. I do have pictures, but it is kinda gross, so I wont subject you to that!

So when he gets home, I can't walk properly, and can't lift anything, and every time he walks, his toe bleeds everywhere! Talk about a comedy act!!

Luckily we are both on the mend!

One of my favourite visitors...

Looking happy and relieved to be escaping from the hospital on Friday afternoon...

 I had a total of 4 hepron needles... it stops you getting blood clots when you are in your bed! I was so bruised from them, and over 2 weeks later, I still have the bruises and lumps!! OUCH!

 I feel better than I have in a long time. A few of my surgery sites are tender still, but there is no belly pain!!!

Jasper has surgery on his hand in 2 weeks, so I will post when we are done with that.

Thanks for reading!

Brooke

Biopsy 2013

Biopsy came around very quick this year... usually it is scheduled for the school holidays after Easter, but here we are in week 6 of term 1, and mid week at that...

My awesome, brilliant and fantastic mother took the day off work to look after our Molly, so it was Jasper and I at the hospital, while Paul was hard at work.

We got there at 8am, and after 2 more hours of Jasper saying "I'm hungry" over and over, it was his turn.. (when I say 2 more hours, I mean, it had been happening since he woke up at 6am!)
He has to fast from the night before, and no liquids after 6am.
I always forget about the liquid timing, so just stop anything passing his lips from bed time onward!

The rule is "Jasper doesn't eat, momma doesn't eat". We suffer together!!

The biopsy went pretty quick, it seems I had just downed some food, read a few pages of a new book, and they told me he was in recovery.

The anesthetic they give Jasper makes him wake up a lot slower than the standard anesthetic. He gets super aggressive on the standard flavour, so a slow pleasant wake up suits me FINE!

Last year, he woke up quite quick, and this year he was awake in recovery and didn't go back to sleep! Makes for a MUCH quicker discharge!

Today (day after biopsy) sees Jasper pretty sore, and cranky, but he did a full day at school (I did go there at lunch time to bring him home, but he opted for some pain meds, and to stay for the afternoon!).

Here are a few of  the photos I took - don't worry, no gross medical ones!!!

Firstly, blood counts.. Here, it compares the bloods from January to yesterday.There is not really much of a change at all, which is a good thing. Jasper's platelets have dropped slightly, but it is still ok.. The numbers that are in bold mean they are outside of "normal range". He has a few, always does.

 Here is my handsome lad. Gosh, I love this boy so much. He drives me crazy some days, but he is a 9 year old boy after all! He just fills my heart.

 Pre-op excitement... notice the awesome slippers... everyone loved them!

 Thumbs up for a happy boy after his thumb prick (how they take his blood pre-biopsy)

 After we got back to his bed (post-biopsy) he sat up to watch TV, and after 15 minutes said "I'm hungry".
Lunch was still 40 minutes from being delivered from the kitchen, so I trekked down to the cafeteria and got him a selection... sushi, chocolate and beetroot cake, custard with fruit, green jelly, apple juice.
The boy was hungry! I gave him options, and he demolished it! (then ate some of the hospital lunch!)

This is Dudley. Dudley is a girl. She has been Jasper's "baby" since the day he was born.
Dudley has been to every blood test and operation. She has been on every holiday we have ever been on. She is much loved.

I know Jasper is nearly 10 years old, but she gives him security and stops total fear taking over.
She needed her own name tag, because she stayed in theater with him, and it's in case she gets lost somehow!

So in 2 more months, we head back for another surgery... this time for Jasper's thumb. I did a post on it a while ago, and we finally have a date... I am not looking forward to it, but what mother does?

We should have results of the biopsy in a couple of weeks, but I am not expecting any surprises.. boring and normal is the name of the game right now!!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

No Excuses... Your Ears Work!

Jasper has been going to the ENT department for a few years now (Ear, Nose and Throat). It was initially detected that he had some mild hearing loss in one ear (his right), and they wanted to check him regularly to make sure it didn't worsen.

It has always been a thing for me to push at school, so he sits at the front of the class. He is easily distracted, has trouble filtering out background noises, and struggles to hear lower male tones.

Well, what a little sneak the lad is....

He had another hearing test on Monday... His hearing is now considered "PERFECT" and his ears - while he has super narrow canals - they are very clear.

I'm thinking it has become a habit borne from ignorance!

He was hearing noises that weren't there on the test, but she didn't seem concerned about that.

I don't like to use the word "normal", as I always ask "what does NORMAL actually look like?", but from a medical perspective, Jasper now has "normal" hearing!

It wont stop me pushing with his teacher to make sure he is always near the front... the lad is too easily distracted!!!

We are back to school now after the Christmas break... I never really like sending him back. It makes me sad... I miss him - even if I want to wring his neck some days, I love having him close by.

He has a lovely teacher, and some good friends in his class, so I'm hoping he has a great year, and continues to improve a LOT!!

Here is my handsome boy.. New blinding shoes and socks! (big footed boy... I'm hoping that means he will shoot up tall!!)

Never one to miss out on getting her face in a photo... here is Molly with her big brother..

Molly was totally lost on Monday, constantly asking "where Jasper? At school?" She was happy when 2.45pm came and he was back with us!!

Here's to a great 2013 in 4th grade, and my last year having Molly at home... can you believe she has to start school next year, at 3 1/2??? Maddness!

Thanks for reading.

Brooke

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