All Better Now

I am physically and emotionally worn out after Mary Alice's "minor" surgical procedure!!! We went in today to have Mary Alice's pin removed. They ended up deciding not to put her to sleep, but to try to remove the pin first, then sedate her if she needed it. Let's just say it was a nightmare!!! I'll describe it like this... Do you remember the feeling you got when you took your little baby in to get their shots? They were laughing and cooing one minute, looking up at you with total trust, when BAM! they were hit with a surprise. They looked up at you in disbelief as you held them down and allowed the doctors to hurt them!! Well, Mary Alice's surgery was like that times 10. So sad. So very very sad.

Mary Alice was laughing and joking with the doctors/nurses, being her usual charming self. Her pediatrician had told her that "it wouldn't hurt". We had told her that she was going to be put to sleep so that she couldn't feel a thing. (This is what we were told.) I am not sure exactly why the surgeon decided not to put her to sleep. I think he might have been trying to spare us the HUGE expense of the fees associated with an anesthesiologist, the OR, and other various things. Instead of putting her to sleep, they laid MA on her stomach, numbed her up with a shot in the foot, and proceeded to dig around in her foot for what seemed like forever. It was probably about 15-20 minutes or so, but it seemed like much longer than that!! It was horrible I tell you!!! Just horrible! Mary Alice screamed out (something that she never does) and cried for about the first five minutes. She continued crying and squeezing my hand for the rest of the time. In addition, she was calling out things like, "I don't like it!" "Make it stop!", "Momma!" and "I wanna go home!" At one point, the surgeon took a small break to take an x-ray of her foot. Through her sobbing, Mary Alice said, "I really..... wish..... I hadn't..... stepped on a pin!!!" She was crying so hard that she was gasping for breath. It was absolutely pitiful! I had to concentrate really really hard to not start crying myself. I mean it. It was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears. Poor girl.

He finally got the pin out. Mary Alice really wanted him to show it to her after he removed it. We saved it in a jar. She was starving because she hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours (because she was supposed to be put to sleep). Her dad told her that he would take her anywhere she wanted to go for dinner. Her request? Wendy's :)

Anyway, she's home and recovering. The doctor says that she should be fine in a day or two. Parents: If you can....Please don't leave any stray pins around the house. Removing a pin from the foot can be quite a feat!

Thank you for all of your prayers. Her infected foot is looking much better now.

On a more celebratory note: Happy birthday to my little brother Ben! He turned 14 today. We went bowling and out to eat tonight to celebrate. This is the person who was 3 when I left for college and 5 at our wedding. Now he has hair on his legs!!! He is growing up too fast! Happy birthday Ben! You are a nice one!