Day Eighteen

Another good night at The Longs! We all got some much needed rest. 

Today was the big staple removal appointment that we've been looking forward to. They made the appointment in the sedation services area so that they'd be able to give James some medication to relax during the procedure. I was given instructions to have James not eat or drink for 12 hours before the appointment, which is a tough go for James as he is a grazer at home (pretty much eats an endless supply of cereal and crackers during the day). I had Nathan eat his breakfast in his room so James wouldn't see him, then we drove Nate to school, then we went to Target to walk around and waste some time. We had to stop home for about an hour where it really started to get tough. James kept asking for food and I kept having to push him off. He was definitely getting hangry!

We arrived at our appointment and Nella the APRN that was going to take care of the removal saw us and said she'd get us in early. She also asked if I thought James would sit for the procedure without being sedated. I said I wasn't sure but I was game for whatever she wanted to try. We went into the room, they took his vitals and we went over what medication would be used if needed. They were going to use a nasal mist that took about 7 minutes to become effective and it would just make James relaxed and giggly. Also he wouldn't remember much if anything about the procedure. Nella came in with a Duplo Lego set for James as his prize at the end. He held the box and she asked if we could just give it a go with no medication, we could stop at any time and medicate if we needed to. Well, James sat like a champ. She removed all the staples (and we'd guess there was 40-50 of them - we never actually counted them) and 2 sutures. He didn't even flinch. Nella was so proud and brought him in a slushy as soon as she was done. He flashed her a little smile when we were done and said thank you. We were out of there as quickly as we came. I'm so impressed with this little guy!

The afternoon James loaded up on all his favorites and played with his new Legos. We had a great day. We're in bed sleeping right now-no nap today, so I'll catch up on my shows on my iPad for a while because 8pm is a little too early for me to sleep!

Looking forward to seeing family tomorrow for Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful for this year. We try not to travel down the "what if" path too often, but occasionally we do and we are just so blessed that things turned the way they did. It feels weird for me not to be hosting Thanksgiving this year, but Al keeps reminding me that it is just too much of an undertaking after what just happened. I'll focus on enjoying the day with my family and keeping the day simple. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all. More tomorrow!