Under the Knife

Max went under the knife yesterday. He inherited (from me, ugh!) tendons in his toes that are too tight and subsequently, as the toe grows, it starts to curl. Two of his toes had curled enough that he was walking on his toe nails rather than his toe pad, so we decided to take care of it while it's (relatively) easy to fix. While Max was under general anesthesia, the surgeon "released" the tendons on six toes.

Max was the picture of calm both before and after the surgery. He has always been easy going and has quite a high tolerance for pain. I, however, was concerned that this whole experience would be hard on him. NOT. When they finally allowed me in with him to post-op, he was of course still groggy and coming out of the anesthesia and didn't talk. No whines, no moans, no difficulties at all.. When he became a little more aware, this was our first conversation:

"Max, how are you?"

"mmmmm"

"Do you hurt?"

(head shake to the contrary)

"Do you want water?"

(head shake to the contrary)

"How about this raspberry slushy?"

(head shake to the contrary)

"Do you need something?"

(head nod in the affirmative)

"What do you need hon, do you hurt?"

"Shhh . . .. "

"What?"

"Shhhhhha . . . "

"What?" (Putting my ear right to his mouth so I could hear)

"Shhhhhhhake . . . . Star . . . . bucks . . . . Shhhhhake . . . ."

Leave it to Max to ignore any pain or discomfort and focus on food. He is SUCH a foodie! Dan thought it was hilarious. As he became more and more aware, his limited conversation surrounded only food, and what sounded really good at that moment, like cheeseburgers, pizza's and of course the shake from Starbucks that Dan promised him after the surgery.

Jackson cheerfully held down the fort at home and took care of things in his usual responsible way. Besides practicing with Alex (since I couldn't), he took care of meals and even ran over to the neighbors (with a first aid kit even) when he overheard a message for me, from a neighbor mom about her son who had just taken a bad fall on his bike, was bleeding everywhere, and she wasn't home yet.

When Max got home, tender-hearted Alex wanted to help her "Maggie" and, when she couldn't find a bell for him to ring when he needed us, so she made a "shaker" and instructed him to shake it any time he needed anything. She would be there, she said, to bring whatever he needed (and she was). Jackson hung with Max while Max rested. They are great friends and they had (and continue to have today) great fun watching movies, watching the olympics, and playing games.

Max continues to handle this experience amazingly. And, now that he has food in his stomach, he has no, seriously NO, complaints at all. They said he'd need prescription Lortab but the only time he has taken anything was one Ibuprofen pill, and that was after I asked if he was in pain.

Yesterday and today helped remind me how grateful I am for my children. They are amazing and wonderful and continue to teach me. It doesn't get much better than that.