We had to be at the surgery center at 8am for Carter's 10:30 surgery. He was handling everything really well. He was excited to be getting the tubes out and hopefully be done with ear issues, so he was very motivated to do this. He had a million questions that morning- his way of dealing with stress and anxiety.
I tried to get him to watch TV, unfortunately they only had 10 fuzzy channels, so we didn't have many choices. I tried to explain to him that this is what TV was like when I was a kid. He thought that was crazy.
They wheeled him and Elephant back around 10:30 and he was talking the nurses' ears off. I was just happy he was a willing and smiling participant. The surgery took about an hour. They are so sweet to come out with so many updates. I think I had three by the end. They took me back to one of the recovery rooms while I was waiting for him to be brought out. Dr. Kraus came in to update me on everything. He said the procedure went great. One of his tubes had already started to grow tissue underneath so it did not need a graft. The other was tube was removed and a they took fatty tissue from his ear lobe. (Good thing they could find some because there isn't much fatty tissue on Carter's frame. Apparently it's all hiding in his ear lobes!) Then they stitched up the back of his ear lobe.
As Dr. Kraus talked, he said "This kind of surgery is just a walk in the park for you guys though." And then he started asking about Julia. She is a patient of his, too and he is so thoughtful to check on her regularly. I mentioned that today was the anniversary of her major surgery and he settled in to talk. For the next 40 minutes, he asked questions and shared more about his daughter. She is a nursing grad student at UPenn and was actually hired right out of school to work in the PICU at CHOP. Apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and she is just as gifted as her father. We talked about hospitals, PICUs, cancer, surgeries, tough cases, and loss. I admire his genuine compassion so much. I know there are a million other places he needed to be and he was probably missing lunch before having to head to his office to see the packed waiting room of patients, but he stayed just to talk. As he turned and left, the tears spilled. I felt bad because just at that moment the nurse brought Carter in in a wheelchair. She probably thought I was nuts, but my tears had nothing to do with Carter.
I was happy to see him sitting up. As soon as she stopped he jumped out of the wheelchair and ran into my lap. I thought the nurse was gonna have a heart attack, but fortunately he didn't fall. He was pretty comfortable from everything. He had lots of good drugs in his IV including codeine and zofran. They also use the new intubation tubes that only go as far as the back of the throat so they don't have that horrible post op sore throat. We left the surgery center with instructions to rest for 24 hours and then back to normal life. he has no restrictions except he can't get his head wet for 6 weeks. He said he thinks we can just wait to wash his hair because 42 days isn't really that long. I beg to differ, but we'll cross that bridge in a few days.
After we dropped off all his prescriptions, I stopped to get lunch and he said he really wanted to eat. He was excited to try a milkshake when I told him it would be the best thing for his throat.
We had some trouble convincing him to rest all afternoon. Lounging around the house has never been his idea of a good time, even when he's sick. After being up for a short time though, he would crawl back in the chair looking rather wiped. Fortunately his recovery seems self-correcting so far. Except for the ear drops which he loathes- 3 rounds down, only 19 more to go.
Julia was so sweet to her brother yesterday. I think she has a lot of compassion for surgery patients. Even though she had to get up early and get ready yesterday, she went out of her way to wait on him all morning and afternoon. It was so heartwarming to see. I'm sure she is happy to just not be the patient for a change, too. Last night before bed, she asked if I could please just lay with her until she fell asleep. After a tiring and emotional day, I happily obliged. As I lay there with her sleeping in my arms, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that on her 3 year cancerversary, she is here with us and she is healthy. It brought back a flood of memories and emotions from this same night in 2009- walking into the surgical recovery after 8pm and seeing our baby covered in bandages, lines, machinery, and stitches. It is an image I will never get out of my head. All that night I lay at the foot of her bed in the PICU. She was so confused by everything that was happening. She was mostly calm, though in a lot of pain. She just stared into the darkness all night. I cannot even imagine what she thought was happening. I wanted so badly to just hold her, but that was many days away. It is so hard as a mother to not be able to pick up your child, especially when they are so young. So tonight I cherish the privilege of being able to hold her, free from machines and lines and tubes and bandages. I thank God that I can close my eyes to sleep without the fear that she will crash during the night. And I say a prayer for the 46 families today who just found out their child has cancer and are tearfully and anxiously sitting beside a PICU bed. And 46 more tomorrow, and the day after that, and the next. I pray they feel God carrying them every step of the way, just like He has with us.
Sweet dreams, JuJu. So thankful you are peacefully asleep in your own bed.
Fort Sumter from our room... 
Dinner our first night. So yummy!
I can see why it's a Southern Living, Food Network, and celebrity favorite. And we didn't have to wait at all! We sat right down at Table 1.
Then a walk on the waterfront...
Saturday we headed downtown for shopping, tours, and more eating, of course.
Loved our tours with Classic Carriage!
On Sunday we headed to a delicious brunch at Magnolia's and one last walk around downtown. We were so sad to be leaving. The weather was perfect all weekend not too hot or cold and only an hour of rain all weekend. Charleston is a beautiful city and so full of history such a fun place to explore. 
It was a wonderful weekend away. We had time to talk, enjoy delicious meals, take long naps, and just relax.
Happy Anniversary, Honey! Thanks for the wonderful vacation!
