Worse

Roller Coaster: There's no better way to describe the last few days for us. In the days leading up to Skylar's surgery I was a bit anxious but kept thinking 'she's a tough kid. She's going to breeze through this.' I was mistaken. She did GREAT right out of surgery (as evidenced by my 'Awesome' post), but day 2 and now day 3 have been a series of ups and downs. Day 2 was bad. Day 3 was worse.

We were sent home with the painkiller Tylenol with Codeine and instructions to give it to her every four hours (three if ABSOLUTELY necessary). They also said "if the pain isn't too bad, try regular tylenol since the codeine can be addictive." I already strive to do things naturally for our family. I don't like giving the kids medicine unless they seriously need it. I buy organic. We go to a farmer's market. I don't use bleach. So, I was already not thrilled about giving my 3 year old a narcotic that can be addictive. I tried a few times to substitute "just" tylenol but that failed miserably. Not only did it not take away the pain, but then I had to wait four hours to give her the good stuff. Argh! And that 3 hours if "ABSOLUTELY necessary" turned into an absolute necessity. In fact, even with the codeine, she is in pain about 2 hours after taking it, so she has to be uncomfortable for an entire hour before I can give her anything else. After she has it, she does GREAT.....for about an hour and a half. She goes from this:



To this...in about ten minutes:



This is her new blanket and frog that she got at the hospital and they haven't left her side in three days...


We have also discovered that she needs to be medicated around the clock. The last two nights have been a challenge. She wakes up crying and uncomfortable so we give her more meds (but of course they take 15-20 minutes to work). It seems like after a few doses through the day, she has a few GREAT hours in the afternoon. Today I was even able to get her to eat a few french fries and a bit of chicken. The Dr said to let her have whatever she wanted, so I've been doing that. She does ask for food (all day long) but only takes one bite and then says "it hurts. I'm done." It goes against everything I do to let her eat just ice cream, popsicles, and drink gatorade. But, it's just a season. This too shall pass, right?

It's not easy to watch your child suffer. I kept saying, "I wasn't prepared for this." But I don't think anyone can really be prepared. Part of parenting is just learning as you go. I know that there will be a BIG payoff in the end. No, I don't mean eternity in heaven (even though THAT payoff WILL be big!!), but I mean a payoff in the not so distant future. Skylar should be sleeping better, eating better, breathing better, speaking better, hearing better, and reading all in the next two weeks. Ok, so I made up that last one, but you get the idea. I would compare it to discipline. No one likes to discipline a child, but you know that you are doing it for their own good; so they will have a better future (and make better decisions). This temporary pain means a better future for Skylar. And hopefully more sleep for mommy.
Tomorrow will be better. And I may even get a shower.

I just have to keep reminding myself....It could always be worse.

(In a totally unrelated tidbit: If you watch Biggest Loser, you may have heard my "start" song! I'm so thrilled!! Francesca Battistelli is one of my favorite new artists and I love this song of hers.)