Zeus and other updates

We're now 2 weeks into the arm restraints at home. The good news: Caleb has really taken to them. Sometimes, he doesn't even want to take them off for a skin/circulation check. He has even accepted being fed his meals. The bad news: we found out yesterday that he has to wear them an extra week.

Saturday morning, we woke up and he was bleeding out of his mouth and nose. It was strange to me because, at the time, he was 10 days post surgery. If he was going to bleed, wouldn't it have been sooner? All kinds of thoughts were racing through my brain as I contacted the surgeon on-call. Maybe he'll have to go to the hospital? Maybe go back into surgery? His first surgery is totally ruined and we have to start over? We ended up taking him to the ER, where he was diagnosed with "oozing" from his stitches. Then we came home. Since then, it's back to the liquid diet, eat cold foods, and call if it gets worse. It has since happened again on Monday, but nothing since. Yesterday, we went to our post-op check up with the surgeon. I was expecting a few more answers. He looked in Caleb's mouth. I told him about the bleeding. He didn't know that it happened, but it's no big deal. I told him about food still coming out of his nose sometimes. He said that happens sometimes, but it's no big deal. How much longer until he can go back to a soft diet? A couple more days. Then, he told us we needed to come back in two more weeks for another check and he has to wear his arm restraints until then (making it an extra week). Then, my five minutes were up, and he was gone. Well, as most everything else is in life, we're still at a "wait and see". Fortunately, aside from everything I have mentioned, he really is doing well.

In the midst of everything else, we also decided to get another dog. When we were considering it, the responses to this idea ranged anywhere from "that's a great idea" (only heard once) to "you are insane" (heard a little more frequently). It would seem that we have our hands full, and getting another dog would only add to the stress. But, actually, that wasn't my theory. I do love dogs, and, not that I want a house full of them, two are not that bad. Also, when I go back to work in August, Owen will be home alone for long periods of time, so we wanted a friend for him. Does that mean I coddle Owen too much? Oh well, maybe I do. We wanted to make sure that we found the "right" dog, and we certainly did! His name is Zeus, and he is a rottweiler/beagle mix who we adopted from the humane society. He is such a good dog! He's four years old, so he's a little more calm and quiet. It's a great influence on Owen, actually. He never barks, he recalls to his name very quickly, he sits/lays down/shakes/heels/stays on command. Since Owen is our first dog, we really didn't have anyone to compare him to. He is, many times, very naughty, but we love him. But we are so happy to have Zeus because he keeps Owen in line a little more. So, maybe we are insane, but I don't care. I think he's worth it.

Palate repaired

Caleb's palate surgery was on Wednesday this week and he's home again and happy. Ok, he's home. Happy will come later I'm sure. We went in very early on Wednesday morning. The hospital is about an hour drive from our home, so arriving there at 5:30 am was a little daunting. They took him back for surgery at about 7 am and it was supposed to take 2 hours. A little after 10 am, the surgeon finally came to our room to tell us it was done. I guess it took longer than they planned because his mouth is so small and it was difficult to work in. After his recovery, they brought him and he was so sleepy. His mouth was quite bruised and puffy, plus he had some bruising around the corners of his mouth. I can only imagine it was from trying to open his mouth as much as possible to see what they were doing. He did so well, though. He slept most of the day and was up and about again on Thursday. We got home yesterday and he's doing fine. I knew he was resilient: he's been handling it all so well.
For now, he is on a full liquid diet and wearing arm restraints. These will last for three weeks, and, sorry to say, I am counting the days. The restraints stretch from his shoulder to the middle of his hand and prevent him from bending at the elbow. This keeps him from putting anything at all in his mouth and ruining the work that has been done. I'm impressed by his attitude toward them: for all he knows, they are a permanent fixture in his life. He manages to play and get around quite well. We have been feeding him, though, something he is still adjusting to. He wants to be independent and feed himself, and so far, as long as we've known him, that's what he's done. So, sitting back and waiting for the spoon is a frustrating thing for him. Also, we've been teaching him some signs and gestures so that he is better able to communicate. These, too, I thought would be pretty much on hold, but I've now noticed that he has modified them and he still gets his point across.
We are glad to be home. Russ and I both stayed at the hospital the whole time, and, as anybody knows, it's not the most restful place. It made me reminiscent of our China days when we were still trying to figure out the schedule and staying in one room. Although, there were no nurses then, coming in at all hours. It really made me think about my work and how it affects people. Speaking of work, I have accepted a job to start in August, but I'll talk more about that later. For now, we are recovering at home and Caleb is getting back to his usual self (a slightly modified version).

Like a Champ

Up and running around the next day.

Back at home.