6 days and counting

Anxiety is setting in again.

Anesthesia scares me. Last casting, his breath smelled of the awful gaseous medicine that knocks them out. Children's told us that the gas is what causes the worst side effects and they try to do it for as short a time as possible. I need to discuss that with the anesthesiologist at Shriner's. He was so miserable the 24 hours after that cast, and really even 48 hours later. After his sedated MRI, he was fine two hours later - 100% back to his old self. Maybe it's the muscle relaxers, too. They have to administer muscle relaxers so that they can more easily manipulate the spine. I need to pack my arnica.

We have to decide if we want his cast cut off on Monday or on Tuesday. On one hand, I'd like to let his skin breathe and give him a bath. On the other hand, I worry that I'll hurt him - his muscles are not very strong under the cast now and I'm afraid that it will be hard on him to not be supported like that all of a sudden. I'm also concerned about getting him out of the cast and teasing him with freedom, then going right back into it the next day. I'd like this to be as least traumatic as possible. I wonder if they can take the cast off in the OR once he's sedated. Hm. I'll have to ask that as well. We also need to find out if they can petal the edges of the cast while he's still under so that we aren't faced with the cuts on both sides of his neck this time around. Those took 8 days to improve. It was really awful.

And, of course, the reality of him not being able to eat that whole night before and the frequency with which he is nightwaking now raises the concern within me. It is particularly hard sleeping in a strange bed, in a strange room, and worrying about waking the people in the room next to us - oh - gosh - we haven't booked the room yet! How did I forget that?

My head is pounding today and I'm feeling out of sorts, so forgive the lack of cognitive flow.