Gall Bladders, Tonsils and Other Useless Body Parts

 

 I have heard many mothers talk about how their kids are trying to kill them.  Usually this claim comes after the children are born, not before.  With each pregnancy, Kate found herself experiencing more and more gall bladder pain, until Lucy was born, at which point she decided that there would be no more visits to the ER and no more stabbing pain.

 

A little over a month ago, Kate went under the knife, and had the gallbladder, along with all the ‘sludge’ that was supposed to be contained inside, cut up and sucked out by way of laparoscopic cholecystectomy.    She had the procedure done on a Tuesday.  She acted surprised when, Friday night she got a call from co-workers, who had seen her Facebook status and were wondering if she was working on Saturday, since she was on the schedule.  She worked Saturday and Sunday.  I won’t tell you when she went back to the gym…

Kate is one tough cookie.  I am not.  So when it was determined that I needed an adult adenotonsillectomy, I was a bit nervous.  I have never broken anything.  I have never had surgery.  I have never been sick.  In fact, I am pretty sure that I have never been beyond a 4 on the 1-10 pain scale.  I would say that I had no idea what to expect, but that’s not true.  No less than 50 people told me how awful it was going to be, and that I would be praying for death before it was over. 
The day before surgery Kate went to fill the many scripts we had been given.  I thought that writing the scripts and filling them ahead of time was for efficiency sake.  It was for mercy sake.  When I got home from work on Wednesday night, I saw the two giant bottles of Hydrocodone in liquid form and thought ‘shit just got real.’

After a final meal of greasy, fatty food from Hires Big H, I went to bed, officially NPO.  Kate and Lucy were great cheerleaders, Lucy even wearing her ‘Papa’ outfit for me.  My veins, normally the size of garden hoses, shriveled up, since I was dehydrated.  But after a second stick, we were in business with no further incident.

 

I remember being wheeled into the surgery room, and being chastised by the anesthesiologist for not breathing in the oxygen deep enough.  Before I knew it I was back in recovery, and Kate and Peanut were brought in.  It felt like a Mack truck had been driven down my throat, with ruts to prove it.  But after some ice chips I was talking and feeling pretty good.

That was Thursday.  It is now Monday morning.  Since getting home, I have watched 9 baseball games (I love October), 2 NFL games, 3 college football games and a Jazz preseason game.  I have been obedient about taking my steroids for the swelling and the prophylactic antibiotics, but other than some ibuprofen, nothing for pain.  I am not just trying to be tough.  I haven’t needed it.  The biggest problem is my uvula.  Because it is so swollen, I feel like I can’t swallow, and I gag easily.  But it is usually only a problem when I first wake.  After a Popsicle (my current staple) I feel better.

I try to remain optimistic.  When I told people I was going to work after just a week, they said there was no way.  I am flying out to a conference in Florida 11 days post-op, so I hope they are wrong.  I have not felt like eating much, so I am currently down 9 pounds.  This might seem like a good thing, but as we all know, muscle goes first. 

I am certainly glad I did it.  I had strep throat several times a year, and my tonsils were so big and so scarred that I always had trouble feeling like I was able to swallow all the way.     I managed to go 36 years without having surgery.  Now I hope I am able to go 36 years more.  And I am looking forward to going back to Hires Big H.

Rivers, Rockets, Rexburg

As we drove North on I-15 Saturday morning, I had a sense of contentment. One more summer weekend lay ahead, with stress left behind. Kate had supplied the kids with anti-nausea meds, ensuring a drive free from the specter of motion sickness.

In the back seats of the van the kids had a different feeling.  Their two dogs, Gizmo and Daisy had been left behind, after joining our family just a day before.  “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”  I quipped.  I received no verbal reply, but a Samantha death-stare in the rear view mirror conveyed a powerful response.  I simply smiled.  I knew they would have a fun trip.

 

After checking in to the hotel in Rexburg I decided that we had enough time to drive out to Driggs to check out the Darby Canyon ice caves.  I had planned out the trip, and made sure we had everything we needed for the hike.  Before we got too far East I noticed a small nondescript sign that read ‘Teton Dam 1 ½ mile’ with an arrow pointing to the North.  I quickly made a left.  The Teton Dam collapsed when I was just an infant, devastating Eastern Idaho.  Of all the times I have been up there, I have never gone to see what remains.

 

I’m not sure what I expected to see, but found myself surprised that there is nothing:  No markers, history, nothing.  It is all open.  At first we drove to a spot where we could see where the earthen dam had been.  Then we circled behind to find dirt roads that led down to the base of it.
 

 

We spent the next few hours exploring.  Patrick and I were fascinated, as I tried to answer as many questions as I could.  The girls bored quickly.

 

However, everyone enjoyed the lesson I gave them about how to skip rocks across the deeper part of the river.

 

 

Sunday morning I let the kids sleep in before we went down to the hotel pool for a dip. 

 

Then we headed up to Ashton to see Great-Grandma Shirley.  She has been healing from a broken hip.  She really enjoyed seeing so many great grandkids.  And even the not-so-great grandkids…

 

Because of our side-trip to the dam, I promised the kids I would try to get them out to Darby Canyon.  But time ran short, so we didn’t make it.  Instead we drove out to Cave Falls. And of course, Derek Jeter went with us... 

 

Unfortunately Cave Falls isn’t very cave-ish these days, as the cave on the North side of the falls has collapsed.  Nevertheless the falls are beautiful, and the kids loved the fact that they could walk up so close and feel the mist. 

 

After the trip to the falls we drove to Grandma’s house for the Labor Day barbecue.  Grandpa Stretch set up his rocket launcher, and the kids all made paper rockets to fire off.  After the fun of the rockets wore off, the kids (actually, JB started it) started firing off water-filled 2 liter bottles.  It is amazing what 40-50 psi can do.  They also learned that a green olive will go much further than a small pickle. 

The kids love making their own rockets.  So much so that when one flies a little too high and ends up in a tree, Stretch will go to great lengths to get it back.  Yes, that’s a 63 year old man in that tree, searching for someone’s missile.    

 

The barbecue was great.  Good company and good food.  This year I didn’t have to rush back Sunday night, so I was able to stay later.  It was a great way to end summer:  food and family. 

The kids are already asking if I will take them back in the Spring to see more waterfalls.  It wasn’t until we got home that they mentioned their dogs…

Hip Hop Hooray!

Tonight we were fortunate enough to attend Patrick's dance recital.  He has some sweet moves.  Enjoy...

Lucy the Peanut

Nearly a year ago Kate and I agreed that there would be one more Shirley child.  Shortly thereafter, before anyone knew, Bean approached Kate and asked her when she was going to ‘make’ her a baby.

We decided that we were not going to find out the gender until the day of the baby’s birth.  Yet Bean one day rubbed Kate’s belly and declared, ‘This baby is a girl.  Her name is Lucy.’ 

On June 9, 2012 at 1:34PM, Kate delivered a 7lb, 2 oz., 19 inch baby girl.  Of course we named her Lucy.  Lucy Rebecca Shirley.  Turns out Lauren knew something all along. 

Instead of calling the baby ‘It’ while in utero, Kate took to calling her ‘Peanut’.  After Lucy was born, I announced that she was a girl and told everyone her name.  We were soon asked if the name ‘Peanut’ was an allusion to the baby’s name, Lucy, from the Peanuts comic strip.  It was not, but it seems a perfect coincidence.

Not everything went according to plan.  At 32 weeks, Kate’s OB sent her for a second ultrasound, due to a concern over the baby’s size.  During the ultrasound, the tech asked us how our other kids felt about having another sister.  Despite accidentally finding out, we decided not to tell anyone.

On the day of delivery, Kate told the providers that she delivers fast.  I guess they didn’t take her seriously.  Her OB missed the delivery, having only been called minutes before Lucy made her appearance.  I was in the waiting room with the family, and only walked in in time for Kate’s one and only push. 

Both Mom and baby are doing well.  After one night in the hospital Kate decided that she wanted to sleep in her own bed.  Being a post-partum nurse makes it easier to convince an attending that all will be well if the patients are allowed to discharge early. 

We are very excited to welcome Lucy in to our home and family.  One question remains:  If baby Lucy is a Peanuts character, which Peanuts personality is Patrick?  The answer, of course, is Pigpen…

Tickling the Ivory

Last night, to celebrate Kate's birthday, we attended a piano recital for Whitney and Samantha.  Both did a great job, I must say.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch

Recently while cleaning out an old storage closet, we ran across the Grinch.  We don't know how long he had been there, why he was there in the first place, or what he did to bide his time while trapped there.  All we do know is that he was really grumpy.  More so than normal.  Since then he has been haunting the office.

He has popped up in the most unusual places.

I first found him in my office, sending nasty-grams to people using my e-mail address.

Then he somehow found himself hanging from the back of Dustin's office door.

Next thing you know, he was stealing Joe's favorite shirt and tie.

He then decided to spend some time picking up on the Best of State trophies.

Some time was spent spying on Joe's desk.  Until Joe was mysteriously injured.

When Joe returned, the Grinch greeted him with his own walker.

He then taught Joe how to graduate to crutches.

Shortly thereafter he was spotted in my office, showing off the new hats the valets are sporting.

Dustin caught him chilling out and raiding the fridge.

After that he disappeared for a while.  When he returned, he spent some time showing 'Scully' the ears he picked up in Disneyland.

Today he was really cooking, 'cleaning out' the microwave for us.  Where he will crop up next we never know...

Thunderstruck

Once again this weekend I found myself in Ogden.  Last week I was running a marathon.  This week I was at an air show.  Last weekend it was hot.  This weekend it was not.  I wanted to be to Hill Air Force base in time to see the opening flag ceremony.  So I got the kids up and reminded them to dress warm, including long pants and jackets.  Of course, I should have stipulated that the girls needed socks and shoes, because as soon as we arrived on base I found that Samantha and Bean both wore shoes and no socks.  And it was raining.  And cold.

Despite the rocky start everyone had a good time.  We stayed until close, and saw all of the performances.  And we barely had time to tour all of the planes the kids wanted to see.

The main attraction for everyone was the Air Force F-16 Thunderbirds.  And while they put on a great show, I was more excited to see a P-51 Mustang and an F-16 Falcon fly side by side.  My two favorite aircraft.

Each time we were able to sit in the cockpits Patrick peppered the pilots with questions, and though he never stumped them, I did get a comment from a pilot on how astute the young man is.

At one point we had to take shelter under the tail of an A-10 as we waited for a hail storm to pass.  (Patrick even got his finger stuck in the seven barrel rotary cannon in the nose of that same A-10).  Once the weather cleared it warmed up nicely, and we had perfect conditions for the Thunderbird presentation.

I tried my best to get good footage of the show, but I was painfully reminded of how hard it is to keep your hands steady while zooming in for good close-ups.  If you vomit while watching the video, I am sorry.

Of course, when we entered the hangar to look at the displays, Mr. P zeroed right in on the guns.

The performances were grand, with stalls, 4-point and 8-point rolls and barrel rolls all executed to perfection.  And of course we had the pleasure of seeing my good friends with AirMed.  A good time was had by all, and we will definitely be going back next time.