Zane's Surgery

Friday I got up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready to take Zane for his final surgery relating to his broken elbow from this summer. I got ready and had some breakfast before I had to get him up, because I didn't want him to have a hard time with not being able to eat anything. After I was done, I got Zane up and we got into the car.

Zane was really good about getting his shoes and coat on and grabbing his blanket. There was a thin blanket of snow on the ground. That night there was a winter storm watch that said we could get hit with 3-5 inches of snow, so I was relieved to see how little snow there was.

We got to the hospital in plenty of time, checked in at registration, grabbed a coffee, went to the outpatient surgery waiting room, and within 5 minutes we were called back into the pre-surgery waiting rooms.

Zane was weighed and they asked all the questions about his health and whether he had medications, etc. Then they said that he needed to change into the hospital gown with the opening in the back. When the nurse left, I grabbed the gown and Zane said he didn't want to change into it. I had been talking to Zane about the upcoming surgery and since he had surgery only 4 months earlier, I knew that I couldn't get anything past him. I think he was getting really apprehensive about his surgery. I was talking to him about getting the gown on when another nurse came in. She talked to him about getting his gown on, and I told her that we were having cooperation issues. She said that if he helped her, that she would help him. She left and I was able to get him to change. He watched TV and she came in with a Treasure Box. He chose a book called, "If You Take a Mouse to School." But then he told me he wanted to read it when he got home, so I put it in the bag I brought for him. He went back to the TV.

Not long after that, we were brought into the OR waiting room. The anesthesiologist came in and talked to us. He told Zane that he was going to use a mask with a balloon on it. He said he would help him blow the balloon up and then he'd fall asleep. Zane asked the anesthesiologist if the balloon ever popped, and the anesthesiologist told him that it could happen, but he'd have to blow it really, really hard. Zane said maybe he would pop the balloon. Then his Dr. that was performing the surgery came in and told him that he was going to put his signature on his arm so they knew which arm they were supposed to do surgery on. He put his initials on and said to him, "That stands for "Everybody Loves Surgery". LOL!

Not long after that another nurse came in and asked how he did the last time he had to be separated from me for surgery. I said that he did fine, so she wheeled him away and directed me to where I could go back to the waiting area.

I sat down in the waiting area, started texting my family that Zane was in surgery and that I was just in the waiting area, and then I updated my facebook. I felt like I was being a little excessive in my facebook updates - most people that I don't talk to on a regular basis might have wondered why I posted so much, but I mostly did it to keep my family & friends updated that do get on facebook and that I talk to regularly. Easier to keep everyone updated all at once.

Anyway, after texting and updating facebook, I pulled out my bible study and started working on it. I was only about 20 minutes into it when they called me to go into the consult room. Zane's Dr. came in and handed me a baggie with Zane's screw that he removed. He told me that Zane's surgery went really well, and that he put one dissolvable stitch in there, but buried it, and it would just dissolve. He put a waterproof cover on his arm, and said that he wanted it to be kept clean and dry. He said that on Monday we could remove the top bandage and he could take a shower. Other than that, he doesn't get to participate in gym for the next three weeks, and he wants to see Zane again next Thursday or the following Tuesday.

I went back out into the waiting room and minutes later was taken back to the OR recovery room. Zane was waking up and he was freaking out a little bit about the IV. He said it was hurting him and he really wanted it to come out. The nurse was taking his stats and he was waking up much more easily than he did the first surgery he had. He was doing okay for a little bit, but he wanted some water because he felt like he had something in his throat. He did a little bit of spitting and then the nurse brought him a popcicle. He ate a little bit of it and it helped his throat, but he started crying because he said the IV was hurting him and he wanted it to come out. He also said his elbow hurt, and so the nurse put some drugs in his IV. He had to look at a pain chart and say what his pain level was. She wanted him to say what his pain was in his elbow and not his IV. I think that he might have been combining the two, but he finally got to where the pain level was down to a 2. He had eaten a good part of his popcicle and the nurse said he could move into the final recovery room.

We went there, and a nurse was there and they put Zane in a reclining chair. The last time they left him on the gurney and he slept for an hour. This time he was awake and much more aware of what was going on. He did have some kind of narcotic put into his IV and he was no longer complaining of pain from his elbow or his IV. While we were in the final recovery room, the nurse brought Zane another popcicle. She asked me if I would like anything, and I asked if she could bring me a Sierra Mist with some cranberry juice. She seemed a little unsure, and I added that she could just bring one of each and a cup and I will combine them myself. I told her that I would just share with Zane, so she asked if I'd like two cups. I said "Sure", and then I added, "If it wouldn't be too much," being the polite person I am. Zane looked up at me and quietly said, "Mommy, it won't be too much.... not for my tummy." LOL! What a cutie!

The nurse brought us our Sierra Mist and Cranberry Juice, I poured our drinks and gave some to Zane. (We even got bendy straws!). And then I went and got a bag of pretzel M&M's out of the vending machine, because it's just something special I do for him after surgery. The nurse took out Zane's IV while I was getting his treat.

I read a little bit while Zane played with his Halo Lego guy that he brought along. The Dr. came in to talk to us and give us discharge instructions, and it wasn't long before we were on our way. We were there at about 6:45 and we left by about 9:45. Three hours, in and out.

On our way home, we stopped off at McDonald's, because I told Zane that we would get him a Shamrock Shake after his surgery. Another little treat to help him feel a little better about the whole procedure. We got home a little after 10:30.

Of course, shortly after arriving home, Zane rushed to the bathroom and threw up. Poor thing. We weren't sure if he got motion sickness on the drive home (very likely, since he easily gets motion sickness on longer car trips) or if it was an effect of the anesthesia. He was given anti-nausea meds, so it's hard to say.

Ryan had a friend come over around 9:00 and so Zane spent the time from when he got home playing with Ryan and his friend. He hasn't skipped a beat since, and he has been eating like normal as well.

We go back in about a week for a follow up to check his incision, and he'll be out of gym for another 3 weeks, but other than that, he's good to go. What a lengthy ordeal. So glad that it is almost over though.

Menu Monday

It's that time again. Kind of boring week. Last week, we ended up switching some stuff around. We went to Gino's East for dinner on Andy's birthday, so I dropped the Mexican Deep Dish Pizza off the menu. And we went to Andy's parents yesterday and had dinner with them, so yesterday's meal moved to today.

Here's this week's menu:

Monday - Cauliflower Beef Casserole, Salad

Tuesday - Cranberry Pork Loin, mashed potatoes, & veggies

Wednesday - Lasagna, garlic bread, veggies & salad

Thursday - Tandoori chicken, rice & veggies

Friday - Rustic Italian Soup (new recipe for me), bread

Saturday - Homemade Pizza (I think we'll have broccoli, onions & cheddar on this one), fruit & salad

Sunday - Chicken Chipotle Quesadilla with Avocado (incredible - I'll make a double batch, doubling everything except the chipotle chilis, and then freeze some of it), with rice & beans.

Yummy, yummy, yummy!!!

Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Translation)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

I first remember this verse when I was doing a bible study back when Zane was just about a year old. I think I had to memorize it. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the verse at that time.

Several years later when Andy lost his job, I was in a small group with Women, Inc. at church (a Women's fellowship bible study our church offers) and when they found out that Andy had lost his job, the women in my small group pooled together and got some gift cards and money and gave it to me along with a card. Inside the card was a sheet of paper with the above verse on it along with many other verses.

Ever since that time, this verse has come up repeatedly. It seems to show up several times within a short period of time whenever I am feeling a little bit of anxiety about how we are going to make ends meet. I have faith that God will provide, but there are still times that I have a little bit of anxiety, and I feel reassured when I see this verse pop up.

Last week in church we had a time of sharing. People were sharing verses that had an impact on their lives in the past week. I have a hard time sharing. I am apprehensive and not good at public speaking, so I avoid it as much as possible. I was feeling prompted to share my verse, but I failed to do it. The time of sharing was over and we began to sing a song. One of the verses in the song contained a paraphrase of Jeremiah 29:11. The next day I was reading a book and I came across the verse again. I believe in the same week, I had a third time that I came across the verse.

We've been in a slow period for Andy's work since it's winter and work is slow. I have always hoped that Andy could earn enough during the summer months that we would be ahead and have money in savings so that we would be okay during the winter months. We do somehow have enough to pay the bills, but we are letting some things go on our credit card, and instead of having savings we are going to end up catching up when work picks up again. Of course, I don't take for granted that God will provide. I try not to abuse the resources He has given me. But I do feel reassured that He will provide for us. We'll get through this like we have for the past several years. God has a plan for us. I don't know exactly what He has in plans for us, but I trust that we'll never be in need as long as we continue to put our trust in Him.

Date Night

We don't get to go out on date nights very often, and with Andy working two jobs now, it can be even more difficult to make it all work out, but thankfully we have some great friends that we alternate watching each other's children so we can go out every other month. I am so thankful that we have that opportunity.

Andy had gotten some gift certificates for restaurant.com and we ordered one for Domo 77. It's one of those Japanese restaurants that cooks the food in front of you. We were going to go there for our date night, but then Andy remembered seeing something that said the coupon was valid from Sunday to Friday, so we realized we weren't going to be able to go there.

So, we pulled out the Entertainment book and found a coupon for a place called Fox & Outpost Grill. We dropped the kids off at our friends' house and headed out. We got there, only to learn that the place was closed down. We decided to drive around in downtown Geneva to see if there was anything that appealed to us, but we really didn't find anything. I thought maybe we should just head down Roosevelt to Randall and we'd hit the Geneva Commons, and I knew there was a California Pizza Kitchen. I mentioned it to Andy and he was all for it.

We turned onto Randall and as we got close to the Geneva Commons, for some reason, I thought about a place called Smash Burger that had recently opened in the area. Recently someone had mentioned it, and I can't remember if it was someone from the gym or from church or somewhere else. But I remember they mentioned the fried pickles. I'll be honest, I didn't really know what to expect, but it sounded very appealing to me. So, I threw that out at Andy and he was very happy to change plans once again.

I emailed my friend and let her know about our change of plans. I looked up Smash Burger on my phone and found out what they had listed on the menu, so we pretty much knew what we wanted before we even walked in.

I ordered the Mushroom Swiss Smash Burger with the Sweet Potato Smash Fries. Andy ordered the Big Spicy Baja Smash Burger with Smash Fries. And we split an order of the fried pickles. We went and grabbed our drinks and then we looked for a place to sit down, but the place was crowded. There was nowhere to sit, so we sat in a waiting area, and we kept an eye out for people leaving. Unfortunately, they weren't very organized there. There were several people that came in after us that had gotten drinks and were closer to tables when people left, so even though they ordered after us, they grabbed tables before us. I was a little frustrated about that. Our food came out, and we still didn't have a place to sit. The guy that had our food looked around for us and someone was getting up, so they cleaned off a table for us and we sat down.

Despite the frustration about not having a place to sit at first, the food was really, really good! I had ordered the sweet potato fries to be healthier, but I tried one of Andy's fries, and the sweet potato fries were waay better than the regular ones. They had olive oil, garlic and rosemary on them and I couldn't get enough of them. I also didn't know what to expect about the fried pickle. I thought it might be a whole pickle that was fried, but it was sliced - like hamburger pickle slices, and it was battered and fried and there was a dipping sauce. Super yummy!

We didn't stay long at Smash Burger. The food was good, but it was crowded, and it was fast food. So, we finished and left. But Trader Joe's was in the same strip mall, so we walked down to Trader Joe's and did a little bit of shopping in there. I wanted some dark chocolate covered espresso beans. We got those and some blue corn tortilla chips and some smoky, spicy peach salsa. We also got some sipping chocolate. We enjoyed enjoyed being able to walk around and spend some time checking things out.

When we were done, we were trying to think what else to do. We were thinking we might try going to a book store and walk around, but we ended up driving towards home, and so instead I suggested we go to Starbucks because I had a gift card.

Andy said he didn't want anything, but then he changed his mind and said he would have a hot chocolate. I asked him if he wanted a regular hot chocolate or a salted caramel hot chocolate. He got really excited about the salted caramel hot chocolate! I ordered a skinny caramel macchiato. I had a taste of Andy's hot chocolate and it was way yummy! We played a word game that I downloaded on my Kindle. We actually had a really fun time doing that. I think Andy wanted to keep playing, but it was getting late, and I thought we needed to go pick the kids up. He had no idea it was getting so late.

It was a simple date, and nothing spectacular, but it was just a really nice time to spend together. I never thought playing a word game with my husband would be so fun!

Next month, we watch my friend's children. April will be our next date night. We already checked to see if we could have our date night on Friday, April 1st. That's our anniversary, but we'll be able to use our restaurant.com coupon and go to Domo 77. Looking forward to our next date night. I'll have to bring my Kindle along. We should have another really nice date!

Menu Monday

Okay, it's been a week and all I posted last week was last weeks Menu Monday. I guess it's been one of those weeks. Let's see if I can post anything else. But, to start things off:


Monday: Today we had bowties with sausage. It had spicy italian sausage links and sweet red pepper chunks. Super yummy! Then we had bread and some salad.

Tuesday: Acapulco chicken, rice & salad

Wednesday: It is Andy's birthday, and I have an Entertainment coupon book with a coupon for Gino's East. We're going to go for pizza. Then I hope I'll be back in time to do my double at the gym. LOL!

Thursday: Tacos with fritos instead of taco shells, with shredded lettuce, shredded cheddar, black olives, tropical fruit, tortilla strips with homemade guacamole and spanish rice.

Friday: Potato, spinach & tomato soup (SO YUMMY!), and spinach, pepper & provalone paninis.

Saturday: Rostaed Italian Pork Tenderloin, Potatoes & veggies

Sunday: Cauliflower Beef Casserole & Salad

Menu Monday

Okay, so it's Menu Monday again. I don't feel like I've written anything substantial this week, but maybe soon enough.

So, this week's menu:

Monday - baked chicken breast (marinated in sun-dried-tomato dressing), roasted garlic couscous, asparagus (sauteed in a little bit of butter with some roasted garlic flavored sea salt), and cottage cheese with blueberries.

Tuesday - slow cooker whole chicken, rolls (or bread), and veggies.

Wednesday - sloppy joes, chips and veggies

Thursday - chipped beef on toast, fruit & jello

Friday - Sausage, corn & rice chowder with rolls or bread

Saturday - Date Night. We have a coupon from Restaurant.com for Domo 77, so we are going to try it out. They cook your food right in front of you. Should be a fun date night! We have a coupon to get $50 for $25, so it should be a good price.

Sunday - spinach & carrot quiche (my son Ryan requests this now and then because it is one of his favorites.... tonight he was actually talking about wanting it again, and I told him it was on the menu for Sunday and he got really excited!). We have fruit & salad with it. Yummy!

Love

Delaney. This girl is something else. Today Delaney was in her pajamas most of the day. The boys came home from school and I made them get started on their homework. She started to pester them. I eventually sent her to her room.

She came out in this adorable outfit that she has - the pants are leopard print and the shirt is black and the letters on the front of the shirt are in leopard print and it says "I MOM".

So, I asked her if she put that on because she loves me even though I had to discipline her.

She said that she had to put the shirt on because sometimes she doesn't love me very much, but she wants to remember that she should love me. She does love me. But she was upset with me. Such deep reasoning for a four year old. I can deal with her saying she doesn't love me very much, because it's her way of saying she's upset with me. I need to keep working with her to express she's upset. But I know she does love me. She loves to snuggle and cuddle and she will wrap her body around me and touch and rub my face and neck until I have to tell her I'm touched out. I love that girl. I love her no matter how she feels about me at the time.

Onions

So, Zane - my middle child - has a major aversion to onions. Actually onions are not the only things he has an aversion to. He has certain texture issues and issues with different sensations. Things that have a texture like onions, green peppers, and mushrooms make Zane gag. He's always been pretty good about at least taking a bite of things, but he has gagged and even gone so far as to throw up upon eating some of these things. Most of the time, I will try to serve him up portions that have fewer onions, or I will help him pick them out. When I make meatloaf, I make it in individual loafs and separate his and put onions in everyone else's. I try to make it easy for him to not have to eat the onions.

Today I made a Baked Potato Soup. I accidentally measured out 3lb. of potatoes and after I had them washed and pricked and put in the microwave to start cooking I realized that the recipe only called for 1-1/2 lb. of potatoes, so I doubled the recipe. I chopped 4 onions to use in the soup. It made an almost full 5 quart pot of soup. (Yummy leftovers for the next couple of days!)

Anyway, we sat down to eat and after a few bites Zane asked if there were onions in the soup. I admitted that there were. I pulled out another ladle full of soup for him and attempted to get mostly potato chunks. But then I told him that I couldn't always eliminate onions in all the foods I make just because he doesn't like them. I told him that maybe he should just try to eat them.

So he took a few more bites and then he said, "You know what, Mommy? Maybe I do kind of like the onions in this soup. You know why? Because I can barely taste them".

And guess what? He finished his whole bowl. Go figure. Maybe he will start eating onions more often.