Surgery & Birthdays

We had quite the busy week. 

I started the new quarter of school, which is always chaotic working out schedules for everyone and getting my stuff for classes all organized. It got even more chaotic and stressful on Wednesday when Boy Teenager was eating lunch and swallowed an inch of wire from his braces. A trip to the ER was not in my plans for the day.

The triage nurse acted as if it was no big deal. "Well, I'll have to put you in as emergency because we don't have urgent care hours until later." Uh, yeah, it is an emergency. We want to get back there quickly. I know how quickly things move in the stomach and intestine and that sharp objects should not be inside the body.

When we got back to the room, the nurse there told us that the doctor would only tell us to give it time and see if Boy Teenager passes it, so it didn't make sense why we were there. "That size wire is so small, they won't even see it, so the doctor won't even bother to order an x-ray anyway." It was just so nice of the nurse to be able to read the doctor's mind and know what he was going to do before he even saw his patient. That's not crossing the lines of what a nurse is allowed to do at all. With a nurse like that, who needs a doctor to diagnose or treat?

An x-ray...the x-ray that the nurse was so sure the doctor wouldn't order...showed the wire in the greater curvature of Boy Teenager's stomach. The previously mentioned nurse was wrong--and oh so humbled when she came back in the room--and the doctor did not suggest going home to let it pass because that would be dangerous considering it is a sharp inch-long piece of metal inside an organ made up of soft tissues.

Chaos ensued as the surgical team, who had left for the day, was called in. Within minutes, nurses, anesthesiologist and surgeon, and doctors began rushing all around us. Boy Teenager was prepped for the OR and taken back as quickly as everything started. They were only in there 15 minutes when they came out and told me that he did well and was in recovery.

Nothin' like a little emergency surgery on a Wednesday night, I tell ya.

Thursday was Ginger Girl's Birthday. When it came time to light the candles, we could find a 1 but not a 2, and several 6's, so hubby did this...

A math Birthday cake
makes sense in our house.

My 12 year old baby girl!

There is one thing that Ginger Girl has been wanting for 2 years now. A violin. She loves the music it makes and the feel of it in her hands. We had trouble finding a violin teacher in our area and we didn't want to buy her a violin without having a teacher lined up for her. Finally, just in time for her Birthday, I was able to locate a teacher. Not only that, but the hours she is available work perfectly with our schedules. 

When Ginger Girl unwrapped her gift and saw the violin case, she started crying. As she cried, she ran to me and grabbed me, "Thank you, Mommy!!" I laughed (and cried because that's what Mamas do when their babies are so happy) and said, "You haven't even opened that yet, how do you know what it is?"

Seeing her violin
case for the first time.

Both of us crying happy
tears over her gift.

Holding her very own violin for the first time.

It was so nice to be able to give her something she has wanted so badly. Ginger Girl said she had no idea that was what she was getting and she was 100% surprised. I got the most amazing video of her opening her gift and then running to me with tears running down her face. Her reaction was priceless.

Friday night was Ginger Girl's slumber party to celebrate her Birthday. One of her friends' mothers sent along a pack of photo props.

I'm the Purple Queen.

She's a sheriff.

Three little hams.

Then we had Little Blondie's 10th Birthday on Sunday. Since we wanted the girls to feel like they each got their own Birthday weekend, instead of sharing it with a sibling, we are doing her party this coming weekend. For their Birthdays, the kids always get to pick the menu and I make whatever they want. Ginger Girl had the most unique menu I have ever put together: potato salad and chili, her 2 favorite foods that I make. For a week, her siblings spent each day trying to convince her to do something that goes together, like chili and garlic bread or hamburgers and potato salad. She didn't budge and we had that very unique meal. 

Little Blondie was no surprise: pizza. Ask her any time what her favorite food is: pizza. Last night we made pizzas and had cake. She wanted to wait for her Birthday gift from us, so she'll get that at her party this weekend. 

Of course, with all this going on, I still had homework to do and new terms and theories to research. It never slows down here, but at least the chaos was balanced with fun this time.