First Day of Homework, Last Day of Birthmark

(Caution: Those with weak stomachs should be warned that this post includes photos of a bandaged post-operative wound. Not graphic, but a little bloody.)

Today was the first day of school in Dickinson. Susan started her first school year as librarian at the public high school, and she headed off to work early to start all the projects she's got to do. Because of some remodeling projects in the science pod, all the science furniture, equipment, and textbooks have been stored helter-skelter in the library throughout the summer, and Susan hasn't had access to "her space" to get it ready for the school year. Today and tomorrow the library will be closed to students as Susan cajoles the custodians and science teachers into removing the rest of the non-library-related stuff so that she can clean, sort, arrange, organize, etc. Not exactly how she had hoped to start her new job, but whaddya gonna do?

I took the girls to school today after having them pose for our traditional first-day-of-school photos on the front steps:

Hillary = 2nd grade, Abigail = 4th grade, and Suzanna = 5th grade

At the end of the day, Abigail and Suzanna had long, detailed stories to share, which was awesome. They love school and their new teachers and being with their friends, and they even got right to their homework (Suzanna has a spelling test tomorrow [review of words that her class ought to remember from past years--not too tough], and Abigail started her insect collection due next week [first victim: a grasshopper that she named Popcorn the Hopper because of the popping popcorn sound he makes when trying in vain to escape the GladWare container by throwing himself violently against the transparent plastic sides]).

Hillary had no first-day-of-school tales to share because she spent the day in Bismarck with me for her plastic surgery. After dropping off her sisters, she and I drove to Bismarck and headed to the St. Alexius Same-Day Surgery Center, checked in at 9:30 A.M. (mountain time), and were escorted to a pre-/post-surgery room to meet her nurses (Greta and Dave), discuss the surgery, get her into a gown, have her vital signs recorded, and meet the anesthesiologist (Dr. Beauchamp). The device that clamps onto a finger to record one's pulse and blood oxygen level wasn't working, so we teased that Hillary didn't have a pulse today--but a replacement machine found that she actually did. We watched a bit of Cinderella while we waited, and Hillary was calm and patient (pardon the pun).

Dr. Beauchamp ordered a sedative for Hillary to take orally and timed it so that it would kick in by the time Dr. Paulson (the plastic surgeon) was ready for her. Then Hillary and I both donned surgical caps, the nurse helped me get into a surgical gown, and we all went back to the operating room at 11:00 A.M. Two nurses helped Hillary crawl up onto the operating table because she was a bit woozy from the sedative. I sat on a stool and wheeled up beside her and held her hand and stroked her arm while a nurse put a mask over her face, told her to take deep breaths, and started asking Hillary questions about school: her teacher's name, her favorite subject, etc. Hillary kept her eyes on me but answered all the questions until finally her eyes rolled back, her eyelids closed, and a nurse escorted me out to the waiting room. I wasn't dry-eyed, I must say, watching her drift off into anesthetized slumber and then leaving her behind for surgery.

At 11:30 A.M., Dr. Paulson came to the waiting room to tell me that the surgery had gone well and to explain the bandaging and how to care for the wound (including how to remove the stitches myself in three weeks!). (Myself!!) I went back to Hillary's room to find her lying on the side of her stitches and snoring peacefully. There were three pads still stuck to her chest to which they had attached cords for a heart monitor during the surgery. There was an IV inserted on top of her right hand and held in place with an elastic wrap (the gauze pads and black-and-blue marks on top of her left hand and inside both wrists told me that they'd had some difficulty finding a vein for the IV). Dr. Beauchamp lingered nearby waiting for Hillary to awaken. She took longer than he expected, so both he and I tried shaking her leg and calling her name loudly. He let her sleep a while longer before trying it again, and finally she opened her eyes.

It took Hillary a while to take in the scene and remember where she was and what she had undergone. She was dizzy and chilly and, once she saw the pads stuck to her chest and the IV stuck into her hand, a little panicky. She was also hungry and thirsty (no food or drink since late the night before [per hospital instructions]), so they brought her a grape freeze pop and then a cup of apple juice and then a cherry freeze pop and then a graham cracker, each of which she wolfed down. Because she had taken in so many fluids and was a little freaked out by the IV, Dr. Beachamp removed it from her hand, and Greta took off the other pads and tape, and Hillary calmed down. She wanted to go back to sleep, but we kept her awake so that they could monitor the medicine's progress at wearing off. They kept bringing her warm blankets to cover her, and slowly she stopped whimpering and returned to her normal self.

Then she threw up.

Yes, one of the side effects of the anesthesia is nausea, and it snuck up on her (and onto my right leg and sandaled foot) with no warning. I got much of the first wave into the garbage can, but the second and third waves got past me, and I had to make a trip to the restroom to clean up while Greta got Hillary cleaned up and moved her to another room. Vomiting seemed to be just what Hillary needed because her color returned, she perked up, and she started to inquire about going home. She drank a cup of water while we watched a Winnie the Pooh movie, and the nurses decided she was behaving normally again and could go home. We got her dressed, and I pulled the van up to the door while Dave brought Hillary outside in a wheelchair. It was about 2:00, and we were both hungry (I hadn't eaten since breakfast, but Hillary hadn't had a meal for 16 hours), so we considered which restaurants might have light meal options for her: soup, crackers, etc.

Then she threw up again.

It was mostly water, of course, but it required a stop at a gas station where we got her out of her clothes, wrapped her naked body in her blankie, did some cleaning of her seat in the vehicle, and then headed out of town, bypassing food altogether. She was asleep before I'd even gotten to Mandan, and she slept almost the entire way home. She ate some crackers and water when we got home and then a full meal for supper with no more problems. We told all the details to Mommy and then repeated them for her sisters, who gave her homemade cards and notes wishing her a speedy recovery. The pain medication had worn off by bedtime tonight, but otherwise Hillary is doing well: figuring out how to pick things off the floor without stretching the skin on her side, taking a shower, and behaving pretty normally. Now she is looking forward to her own first day of school tomorrow!

Before:

After: