He was up at 5:45. When I came down he was having fun dropping Cheerios down his shirt. They were playing with Carly’s computer and she was typing sentences like ‘The frog sat on Zinnie’ for him to read. He then hummed songs as he ate Cheerios and made a nice little three line song that he repeated a few times and wanted me to hum too.
He watched Max and Ruby and was then different machines on the couch. He was a calculator that “calculates sea pressure.” Played Seuss Band and then watched the Marble Machine. I heated up the leftover French toast for him. Made things out of Duplos, then got a phone call from the medical center. My surgery was scheduled for 3, but I needed to get there ASAP to do a blood test and EKG. Oh, and I was supposed to be fasting. All things that would have been nice to know last night.
I quickly took a shower, and August got to skip a bath for a third day in a row. We got out to the car and watched a little beetle with spots – like a ladybug but longer – walk across the curb and street. We left at 9:45.
Drove to Herzliya Meidcal Center and parked on the street. Went across to a pay station but it didn’t print a ticket when we paid. So had to walk to another station and pay again. Then to the clinic. What followed was a whole lot of waiting at different offices, but August was awesome through it all. First was down to get a blood test. A long wait at the counter but he just stood with me. He watched while I got my blood drawn and found it really interesting. I explained what was happening and that I was going to look at him, not the blood. He asked why, and I explained what an ‘aversion’ is. He wanted me to like it next time: “Next time don’t do that” Have an aversion, that is.
Back up to the international clinic. Michelle then took us to the surgery prep area, and August played on a hoppy horse thing while we waited. No room to do the EKG there though, so we went back to her office and waited for someone to come over and do the EKG there. August played a little GroRecycling and scratched the candle when I wasn’t looking, A guy came over and set up the EKG test. Michelle brought August a chocolate pudding. He sat at a desk and ate that and watched me get the EKG stickers on me and take a test. The guy gave August one of the sticker things but August said he wanted it on me so he could still see it, so it went on my shirt.
August was great with both Michelle and the EKG guy – both answering questions and asking them. He asked questions about what the EKG was for and about electricity in the body and the guy answered. And when it was time to go out of that room he let the guy pick him up to get out of the chair.
Next was the realization that I was supposed to be here at least two hours before my surgery – but I had planned on picking Carly up and getting back at 2. Michelle took control again and took us back to the surgery area again to do some of the prep paperwork in advance so I could then go get Carly. While we waited August played on the bouncy thing again and then a woman brought him a teddy bear. He really liked it and sang “Oh my teddy bear” to the tune of “Dinah won’t you blow”. He named it Teddy Freddy, then “Actually I call it Pinnochio.” Michelle came back as we were still waiting to go in to tell me that the surgery was moved to 2:30. She was still working so that I could get Carly, but Carly agreed to just take a taxi. We then sat and played the Lumio Shapes app, then read Plumdog.
I was called in, and during this part, which August called the boring part because I just answered questions, he played with the high tech scale that weighed and took his height: 15.1kg and 100.5cm.
We went out and put more time on the car, then stopped at the bathroom. Then back to Michelle and she took me to my room to get prepared for surgery. I got dressed in my hospital gown and all. August and I talked about why you have to wear special clothes. We watched some cartoons in Hebrew, then played with the remote and saw some music videos. He managed to make it not work and I told him “Dont worry about it.” He replied “I’m worrying about it. I’ll die without it.” We played Seuss band
We saw something about 100 years ago, and I talked about how it was before the internet, etc. He showed his 21st century-ness: “What if they needed to do stuff?” “What if they needed to post something?” We talked about using the post office and blogs not even existing. He was being really patient, but was starting to run out and mentioned needing to go outside a couple times.
Carly showed up at 2 and they left at 2:15. They went and ate pizza, which August loved (he said it was much better than mine). They then drove over to Herzliya Park and played there for quite awhile. He was really interested in doing the zip line thing, but Carly was hesitant. When she agreed he had lost interest – perhaps because of her nervousness, or the having to wait in line. But it made me realize that a few months ago he couldn’t do that, as he couldn’t hold on long enough – I’d let go and he’d slip off. But he now hangs from bars or exercise equipment and swings his feet around for several seconds so could probably do it now.
On their way back they went to another coffee shop nearby and had hot chocolate. Carly had brought a deck of cards from school and he played war and go fish for the first time. He liked go fish in particular, I think. He told me one of the games had winners and he didn’t like that so they made it so everyone won.
Meanwhile, after Carly left the anesthesiologist came and told me it might be a general anesthesia. News to me, as I had been told local and pictured being awake for the whole thing. The surgeon, the same guy from the previous evening, came in and told me it would be a local, but with something to put me to sleep.
They got me going and took me into the surgery room and got me going there. I was humming “Sentimental Wars” to myself, then the next thing I knew I was awake and I was in the first recovery room. Unlike when I’d had general anesthesia in the past and woke up all groggy and strange this was just like waking. Surprised though to find that my whole hand and wrist were wrapped – he’d talked about having something over where the rods stuck out of my hand, but this seemed like overkill. In fact, I’d been wondering today if the surgery was really all that important. The swelling had gone down since yesterday and it looked normal. If it was just taped straight it seems like it would have been okay. Oh well.
Still sleepy though and was able to nap for the next hour or so before they moved me to a room. There I was reunited with my stuff, but was still on an IV and they gave me another bag of fluid. I finished reading A Horse Walks Into a Bar. They brought me a meal, but no news of when they’d let me out. I was starved, so quite enjoyed the Israeli meal of tomato slices, cucumbers, olives, bread, cottage cheese, hummus, white cheese, and berry yogurt. And tea.
Ate it all up, and just as I was losing patience and Carly was trying to figure out how to spring me, a nurse came and he disconnected the IV, let me get dressed, and brought me the discharge papers and my prescriptions.
Turned out the pharmacy with the super-efficient guy was closed. We drove back and they directed us to a Super Pharm about 18 minutes away. I ran in, but had to get a number and there was a long line. Carly parked and they got his bike and came in and rode around and looked. Got my drugs and we headed home. Tried to keep him awake and put music on. He requested “Sentimental Wars” and I told him how that was the song I was thinking about before my surgery. We had that on repeat and he was humming along. He said he wanted to fall asleep. He kept humming it and fell asleep at 8:25 holding my finger (not the broken one). Held my finger the whole way home.
We got home 20 minutes later and Carly was able to carry him right up to bed.
Oh
, and several times, as we navigated from place to place in the medical center, August would ask “Did she fix your finger?”
No pain for me. My pinkie and ring finger were still completely numb. So no pain medicine, except for the anti-inflammatory they had given me last night. Started listening to the audiobook of Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret before I went to sleep.
Watching the blood draw:
Watching the EKG and eating pudding:
Bear:
Ready:
