My bubbling river

I have often likened my little Drew to a sunbeam and if he is that, then Peyton is a river. He is like a river that meanders slowly and gently at one moment and at the next is roaring over the rocks, splashing everywhere and getting everything in its path wet. It shoots over falls without thinking twice, easily cuts through new territory out of necessity, and moves around rocks, not stopping to think about the size of the obstacle encountered. It sprays into the air sometimes, mixes with the sun to create beauty everywhere, and brings life to the surrounding environment, not intentionally, but by proximity. It may be cold and deep, still and quiet, loud and abrupt, or warm and gentle. It doesn't do anything to attract attention intentionally, but something about it draws people to watch it.

Peyton has brought us smiles this week, and pride, as he deals so bravely with his lot. He has also caused me frustration and confusion, if I am completely honest. He does not (DOES NOT!!!) like the NG and oxygen tubes they put in his nose after surgery. Between the NG tube and the pain meds, he has challenged all of my mothering skills and then some for the last 5 days. Friday he was crying about something, which brought me in closer to investigate. He responded, "I don't need you, I need NG out!" If you came to visit, you might have thought he had surgery on his nose instead of his stomach by his indications of what was bothering him. I tried every trick in the book to distract him, and more to comfort him, all unsuccessfully. I think the nurses are never sure what mood they will encounter when they venture in! He has perfect manners some days, but is more than prickly others. If you ask him how he's doing if he is experiencing any discomfort at all he may bite too! I guess I might ask people to allow me a little latitude too if I had gone through half as much, but he certainly proves how much a situation like this can impact all elements of your being.

We are hopeful that Peyton will be discharged later this week, if everything continues to mend as well as it has been. Since he got the NG tube out on Friday, he has done a 180 in both personality and recovery. He was so ginger with his movements because he didn't want to bump his NG tube that he wasn't pushing himself at all. It might have been a mixed blessing for his recovery. A few of the nurses who were on last week but had the weekend off came by to see him today and were so surprised at how well he is doing. We missed the doctor this morning, but I'm sure if he knew what Peyton was up to today he would be thinking of kicking us out of here. We just need to check on a few more things and I am not eager to rush things at this point. Peyton has an area that is swollen around the incision, but it looks like it might just be how they sewed things up - none of the nurses have been too worried about it. Hopefully it won't slow our discharge date down. He needs to be able to tolerate a full diet too, before we can leave. His tummy bothered him anytime he ate today, so hopefully that is just due to his tummy learning what to do with food again. I can't imagine the shock to the gut from having everything taken out, pieces removed and then everything put back in - that just sounds wrong and definitely something that I would think would take more than a week to recover from but kids can't stand to be down long! He was already trying to hop on one foot this afternoon (OUCH!), let his sneezes out gingerly (he wouldn't let himself sneeze until today) and proving his speed had not been affected. I was talking with a friend in the hall and Peyton excused himself for a moment. He had been running in the entry hallway for the unit (the only somewhat safe place to expend that type of energy indoors) and decided his reindeer slippers were too slow. He was back a minute or two later with his running shoes on and then had to put them to work! You would not know he was laid up a couple days ago! Amazing.

Now it's time for a quiet moment or two before bed to unwind. Thanks for following and I am going to work on that story shortly...