Recovery

Well, Gisèle's recovery has been more difficult than we thought it would be.

I won't go into details because, frankly, I'm tired.  Hopefully her pain will lessen, the swelling in her throat will go down, and her voice will go back to normal soon.  And she will start sleeping through the night again.

In other news, I have a swollen lymph node on the back of my head.  I don't recommend getting one of those - it's no fun.

More to come when we're all healed up and I have more energy.

Our Next Hospital Visit

Gisèle has had five bouts of strep throat in the past year, and with the fifth, her doctor decided that her tonsils should come out.  She is pretty excited about it, though bummed that she won't get to ride in an ambulance like Miles got to.  The long-awaited operation is tomorrow.

I took her to the ENT's office for a pre-op appointment on Thursday.  He answered the few questions I had, gave her a high-five, and then told me to go to the hospital to fill out some paperwork.  I had taken the afternoon off and agreed that it would be more convenient to fill it out then instead of at 6am the day of the surgery, so I loaded Gisèle back in the car and headed on over.

After filling out the paperwork, I was handed back my driver's license and told to "Have a seat; Nurse Robin will be right with you." 

"What?" was my intelligent reply.

"Nurse Robin will be right with you."

"No; I was just here for the paperwork," I replied.

"No, ma'am - you're here for her pre-op."

"No, I'm just here for the paperwork.  She already had her pre-op appointment."

She looked down at something on her desk, and back up at me.  Speaking slowly and carefully, and looking straight at me, she asked, "This is Gisèle Lowery?  Having a tonsillectomy on the 16th?  She's here for a pre-op screening and bloodwork.  Sit down, ma'am, and Nurse Robin will be right with you."

Huh.  Not what I was expecting.  If I had known Gisèle was going to be having a pre-op screening, I wouldn't have let her go to town on that rainbow-colored lollipop after her previous appointment.

When Nurse Robin appeared, she laughed at Gisèle's completely blue lips, tongue, and teeth, and waved off my apology.  She took us back to a small exam room and went through the plan for Tuesday before mouthing to me that they were then going to do a "BLOOD DRAW."  Gisèle, who misses nothing, loudly asked "What's a blood draw?"  Nurse Robin retreated to go let the phlebotomist know we would be there in a minute, and I sat Gisèle down near a nurses' station and explained the procedure.  She was fascinated, and thought it was really cool that someone could look at her blood and tell whether or not she was healthy.  She also asked if she could watch them take it out.  The nurses nearby looked at me like I was inflicting some sort of cruel punishment on my child; I don't think they're used to parents telling their kids exactly what's going to be happening. 

When we sat down in the lab room, the phlebotomist very sweetly and softly started with, "Hi, sweetie.  Now, I'm just going to..."  And Gisèle eagerly interrupted with, "Are you going to take my blood out to look at it?  Can I watch?"

The stunned silence put a pretty big smile on my face.

She recovered quickly and told Gisèle she was welcome to watch the whole thing.  Gisèle was very interested in the process, and kept her nose 2-3 inches from the needle the whole time.  She never even flinched.  Afterward, while the tubes were being labeled, she chatted with the nurses all about her upcoming birthday, her new surgery nightgown, and how, "(sigh)  I just wish I could have my tonsils out today." I don't think they'll forget her any time soon.

We stocked up on ice cream, popsicles, pudding, yogurt, and every other soft thing in HEB this weekend.  I think we're as prepared as we can be.

T-minus 15 hours!

Our Latest Hospital Visit

Jamie left work early Tuesday; he wasn't feeling very good.

He threw up Tuesday evening, and stayed home Wednesday since he still wasn't feeling good.  Before I left work to pick up the kids, he let me know he wanted me to take him to the Urgent Care Clinic when I got home.  This was the first time he had ever asked me to take him to Urgent Care, so I knew he was feeling pretty crummy.  By the time I got home with the kids, Jamie wasn't saying much, but had changed his mind.  He didn't want to go to Urgent Care - he wanted to go to the ER.

We got to the ER around 6:40 Wednesday night and he was taken back pretty quickly.  He ended up getting IV fluids, morphine and another painkiller for a really bad headache (the morphine alone didn't take care of it), and a couple doses of Zofran for his nausea.  He also had a CT scan to check for a brain bleed since his headache was so bad, and blood work to see if there was anything beyond a stomach bug going on.  (His only symptoms were the vomiting and headache.) 

The diagnosis, thankfully, was a really bad stomach bug and dehydration, so he was discharged shortly after 11pm and able to go home with a prescription for Zofran.  He stayed home Thursday, as well, and is home today trying to regain some strength.  He still isn't able to eat much, but is slowly getting better.

It's been a bit of a rough week around here, and it is so nice to have him on the mend!  He's feeling well enough to go to Gisèle's Theatre Camp performance today, and I know he would have hated missing that. 

Here's to better days ahead!

New Orleans - Monday

After the tire fiasco, Andrea delayed her flight for a day and she and I ended up waiting in New Orleans an extra day while we had the tire fixed.  Brandi, unfortunately, had to leave as scheduled on Monday morning, so was unable to go to dinner with us that night.  The dinner Andrea and I had was fun!  We ate at the chef's table at Emeril's NOLA, and enjoyed drinks, appetizers, and dessert.

The perfect scallop

Our yummy cheese plate

Dips for the cheese plate

My decadent dessert

Andrea's sorbet duo

New Orleans - Sunday

Graffiti seen on the way to the French Quarter from the Warehouse District

French Quarter

French Quarter

Breakfast at Stanley on Jackson Square

Breakfast at Stanley on Jackson Square

old hitching post

Very relaxed after facials and pedicures

Louis Armstrong impersonator and band in Jackson Square

Band in Jackson Square

Bar in Muriel's on Jackson Square

Sunday Brunch at Muriel's on Jackson Square

Shrimp & grits at Muriel's on Jackson Square

Popsicles at Meltdown.  Brandi's Tangy Tamarind was the winner!

Shopping for souvenirs at the French Market

Waiting for beignets at Cafe du Monde

Gisèle's souvenir peeking out of the bag

Beignets!

The French Quarter

Taking a pedicab back to the hotel after our hot day of walking

Loved these! The "riverbend" at Luke's, where we had dinner.

Our appetizer at Luke's

Brandi's duck at Luke's

New Orleans - Saturday

Andrea, Brandi, & I went to New Orleans for a weekend over Memorial Day.  These pictures will give you just a glimpse into the fun we had!  The weekend included pedicures, facials, slot machines, a tire fiasco, chocolates, LOTS of walking, good food, changed flights, and a great time!

On the table at lunch

Mussels shared at lunch

House-made charcuterie and mozzarella for lunch

Sucre, one of our favorite stops

The bakery display at Sucre

Chocolates at Sucre

A chocolate & salted caramel cupcake & macarons at Sucre

Brandi's treat at Sucre

Our view of New Orleans as we drove in

Pretty picture in the bathroom.  All of the photographs were beautiful!

Mojitos at dinner that night, at Drago's

Charbroiled oysters at Drago's

Seafood risotto at Drago's

Crab dip at Drago's

Slot machines at Harrah's to cap off our evening!  We all lost, but had fun.