Another Surgery Month

Last December ended up being quite a surgical month with tubes, and two mouth surgeries. It was supposed to be three, because Robyn was also supposed to get her wisdom teeth out with June, but she left and went to Front Sight instead. (Probably a smart decision.)

But that meant her wisdom teeth were still hanging out waiting to get extracted. When summer came and it was looking like a pretty dull one at that with COVID and not going anywhere, she decided it was time to get them out. 

Right behind her, June begged to get her tonsils out. She has always had large tonsils and somewhat frequent cases of strep, but this year she started getting tonsil stones. They are just gross and uncomfortable and we decided it was time. 

So we scheduled two surgeries within about a week of each other. Yep, summer was super fun around here. When we get bored, we just carve things out of our kids.

Robyn was up first. I took her first thing in the morning on her scheduled day. They did x-rays and the normal stuff. Then they took her back. I had to wait in my car because they wanted less people in the office because of COVID. Honestly, I was happy that they were still doing wisdom teeth removal. I sat and listened to My Lady Jane while I waited.

Then Robyn was done. I went in and she was almost awake in the wheelchair. She was so groggy and she was really struggling to stay awake. Apparently it doesn’t take much for her to be out. She is a lightweight. Another kid came out while we were waiting and he was so wired. Super perky and sitting bolt upright. Everyone is different.

Robyn asked how long it took and she mentioned that the nurse chose the correct arm for the IV. She was worried she wouldn’t be able to draw. It was really hard to understand her since there was gauze in her mouth. But we figured out most of what she said. It was hard to move her to the car. Her legs were a little wobbly, but we made it with both of us helping.

*To be clear, I do NOT video my kids coming out of surgery because I don't want to embarrass them, and in general, there hasn't been much to record. Ivory and June were both pretty normal coming out of surgery, but Robyn was hilarious. She said so many funny things and later she told me that she wanted them recorded, so I put all of them in here by request. 

Then we were off. We hadn’t even left the parking lot when Robyn mumbled. “I hate them” She clearly wasn’t happy with the surgery. Later she said she hated everything right now. I don’t blame her. Super not fun.

On the drive, she started talking about Inception. (Which we had watched recently) She said she was probably still dreaming and she hadn’t woken up yet. I told her we would give her the kick, so she could wake up. It got very silent and then I heard a slow whimper and Robyn moaned, “Don’t kick me.” And she started crying. Opps. Wrong thing. This happened often. She would start crying and then she would almost fall asleep because it would exhaust her. 

She was sure it was all a dream. She kept talking about how she would wake up and she would still be on the table. She didn’t remember how she got to the wheelchair, which is why she was certain she was still asleep. Her ice fell off at one point and she insisted I put it back on. When I didn’t do it right, she told me that I stink. Actually, she said that a lot. You stink. You stink. 

I finally asked,”Do I really smell bad?” She tried to sniff, but it was only a snort because of the gauze. She kept sniffing/snorting and then she laughed hysterically because it sounded funny. I thought she might cry.

I took her to get a frosty. In the line she said that she couldn’t feel her tongue. “My tongue is like Venus,” she said. How is it like Venus I asked. “Because it it dry and far away.” She may have said more, but I was laughing so hard, she stopped to glare at me. 

She also wanted to look in the mirror. She opened it up and screamed, so I closed it quickly. She moaned, “I’m hideous” I told her she was fine and no one would notice, but the girl in the drive through said, “Oh, you got your wisdom teeth out.” So much for that. 

Robyn said she looked like a Walrus Muslim. She mentioned that several times. She was annoyed with the gauze, so she went to pull it out. I stopped her, but she saw that it was all bloody. It freaked her out and she sat and moaned over and over all the way back to the pharmacy, “They ate me, they ate me.” I tried to decide if she really thought they ate her, or if she was saying They hate me. Nope. It was ate. For some reason, the blood made her think they had eaten her somehow. She asked if I ate her, but I told her that I didn’t.

Later she asked if I was one of them. I think she was referring to the people who build the dreams in Inception and then try to get info out of people. I’m not sure what secrets she is hiding?

When we got home, I asked if she needed help getting to the door. She said haughtily, “I can walk.” She stepped out of the car and promptly fell on the ground. Nice. So I helped her up.

I think I covered it all. She was really funny. I spent a lot of time giggling. None of the other girls were quite like this.

Here she is on the couch in her Walrus Muslim wrap. 

She didn't love the gauze, but it took her a little longer to stop bleeding.

I made her pudding and found it later in the fridge looking like this. Hahahaha. Death pudding.

Robyn did very well recovering and being a trooper. She ate a lot of ice cream, which I encouraged. Getting your wisdom teeth out is pretty miserable.

The office sent her flowers which was very nice.

 

Also, she painted her toenails. Kind of creepy, but funny. Robyn has a great sense of humor.

And just as she was finishing healing, we took June to get her tonsils out. They just switched places on the couch. 

June was doing her procedure through the hospital, so she had to go and get tested for COVID and all that drama. I was with her when they swabbed her nose. It wasn't the worst, although she said it was not very comfortable. (On top of that, she had her nose cauterized just days before, so I bet it was still tender.)

Then she quarantined until her procedure day. Once again, we went in early in the morning. At the hospital, you always get the special gown. (I bet Robyn was jealous she missed this part.) Although June knew it would be a rough road ahead, she was really excited to get rid of her tonsils.

The surgery wasn't too long. It took her a little while to wake up and come back to her room. She came with a slushy because those are always the best things to eat after mouth surgery. 

June was pretty tired, but we slowly got her moving. When she was closer to being ready, they were going to take out her IV, but Tyler asked if he could do it. He really liked to be involved. And they let him do it. (Don't worry, they didn't let him put it in.)

There were certainly some rough days, but June was such a good sport. She ate a lot of green smoothies and she sat on the couch and stitched a lot when she couldn't do much else. 

I feel like her recovery went rather quickly. She seemed back to herself in no time. Of course, herself with no tonsils. Yay!

Grandma Dargan sent some soft squishy pillows to the surgery girls. They came in such tight packages and ended up being big and so soft. Just the thing to cuddle when you don't feel great.

It was a good use of COVID summer and we still had plenty of time to play and have adventures.