A big day!

I have mentioned before that Kael's ears are a constant source of discomfort and pain for him. I have also mentioned that we decided to move forward with another set of tubes. So, early this morning we headed to Lakeview Surgery Center for Kael to get tubes and to have his adenoids removed. Poor guy thought there was a chance the place he was going to would be somewhat vacation-like considering it's "Lakeview" name.

I had tried to prepare Kael for what would happen, without going into so much detail that he would worry. For autistic kids, that is such a fine line. It's important for him to be informed so there are no big surprises, but at the same time, if I offer too much information I knew he would be up worrying all night. I touched on some general info before I tucked him in last night and prayed he wouldn't be concerned. Sure enough at about 3:00 this morning he showed up in our room.

He whispered, "Mom, I'm worried it's going to be a long drive to Lakeview."

Bless his heart. Of all the things I thougth he might be worried about, that was not one that had crossed my mind. I tried to recall what I had told him earlier. I was quite sure I hadn't detailed the length of our trip and the unknown was upsetting him. "Kael it's only about a half hour drive, which is just a little bit farther than Mamo's house." I explained.

"Oh. I was worried it would be longer," he said.

I realize tubes are an incredibly low-risk, very minor surgery, but my heart goes out to anyone who has had to wave good-bye to their little ones as they walk down the hall with a nurse. He was so brave. Surgery was short but the doctor had some exciting news for us before we got to go see Kael. When the doctor called me back to talk about how it went, he just smiled and tossed a little blue case to me. I couldn't help but smile too. Kael had lost his first tooth.

Well, "lost" is really not the right word there. The anesthesiologist had to remove it because the tooth was so very loose that it could have presented a choking issue if it came out while Kael was in surgery. I can't stop looking at his handsome little toothless grin. I know every mom thinks their kid is the cutest but one of the nurses actually stopped me in the hall, pulled me aside and gushed, "Your little boy is soooooo handsome!"

And yes, in case you were wondering from the picture, we did go out on the boat tonight. Getting up at 6:00, having surgery, and spending a good part of the morning throwing up (here's something I bet you didn't know: our nurse in recovery informed me today that redheads tend to get more sick after anesthesia than non-redheads. Interesting, huh? I love knowing stuff like that!) sure didn't slow him down.