|
What a month.
In the past two weeks since I pretty much got rid of my viral companion (just in time), we've been dealing with medical issues of a different sort.
Recently my wife had what we hope is the last of several surgical procedures related to Sam's birth. Starting with the C-Sec incisions that didn't heal right to infections and whatnot to last month's gall bladder removal, this last one should be it. We hope. As it turns out, the abdominal incision never healed at all, and a rather large hernia developed. The hernia was sealed at the same time I was finally getting rid of the virus.
The problem was that I had to be well so my wife would not get sick from my yuck, as well as Sam, as my wife could not take care of her at all for a couple of days as she recovered. Luckily Sam could stay with my wife's mother that first full day so I could focus on taking care of my wife. Two weeks out, my wife and Sam didn't catch my illness and my wife is getting stronger each day.
The one thing that upsets me, and this is in no way a reflection on Sam, is that Sam's birth should have gone a lot smoother. Going into the hospital for corrective procedures almost nine months after the child was born just rankles me. After all, I didn't marry a pin cushion. It just looks like it. I have to say also that it's probably not a good thing when you know more about the social calendar of the hospital staff than you do your own family.
The hernia itself turned out to be pretty big, roughly the size of a saucer, or big enough for an apple to easily pass through. The doctor we chose had removed a colleague's spouse's gall bladder, so we went to him to remove my wife's gall bladder. During the exam for that, he found the hernia. When he was taking out the gall bladder last month, he took a picture of the hernia and it looked pretty small. Then he told us how large it actually was. The good thing is that this doctor is an expert on repairing such tears, so we were lucky to have chosen him.
However, the method he uses is a little peculiar for one reason. He goes in and instead of sewing up the hernia, which is commonplace and results in a large number of re-tears, he patches the hernia. He showed me what he used to patch the hernia, and quite honestly it looked like the pad they put between the foam tray and the steak at the butcher department in the grocery store.
The method he uses is not only one he teaches all over the country, but is also apparently measured by its re-tear rate in the single digits. We can deal with that. The material used is also apparently (despite its goofy appearance) advanced enough that if we have another child via C-Sec, the patch can be cut and re-sewn instead of replaced.
The other screwy part is that to ensure a clean heal inside, my wife has to wear this girdle-like band around her midsection for a while that puts a lot of pressure on her abdomen. This is to promote a "tighter" internal knitting of the muscles as her insides heal, but is making eveyday living a little difficult. And, for all intents and purposes, has turned my wife into an enchilada.
The bottom line is that my wife is apparently, finally, going to be whole and healthy and finally able to not go to the hospital for a while, and that the ultimate saving grace for all of these issues is that we at least got lucky with a happy and healthy beautiful child. Sort of.
The other issue we've been dealing with is another cruel twist of fate dealt us, but this time dealt to Sam, not because of her.
As she reached seven months, Sam cut her first teeth, the two lower front teeth. Now, as she approaches nine months, she has as many as six teeth coming in at once in her upper jaw.
Now, I cannot say that I remember what it felt like to have my teeth come in. I was an infant. However, I can tell just by looking at my daughter that it wasn't pleasant. Sam, as I have said so many times, is a beautiful and happy child. At times during these past couple of weeks, out of the blue, she will scream and wail, a look of absolute pain and confusion taking over her small face. She just looks at me or my wife with this pained expression that simply says "why?" No more than four seconds later a river of drool comes spilling from her mouth. The problem is that we cannot wipe her mouth because it hurts her too much.
What is so painful for us as parents is the inability to help her. It hurts us to watch Sam go through this and basically be powerless to relieve her pain. Sure, we can give her Baby Orajel or Tylenol, but they are topical or temporary. This pain even affects her ability to eat. Luckily, my mom gave Sam a teething towel for Christmas that Sam loves, so she has something to chew on when it gets bad (and it's absorbent, too).
I love being a dad, but it's awful being so obviously powerless to your child.
A few other notes from the past couple of weeks...
Basic Instinct 2 opens this week. Good lord, haven't we seen enough of Sharon Stone? Literaly?
Michael "You can't spell FEMA without F and ME" Brown was on The Colbert Report March 28th. It was a heckuva show, and I actually have to give him credit for going on the show. If a video or transcript is made available, I'll post a link. Basically Colbert stayed pretty much in character, skewered Brown, yet gave him the opportunity to stick it to Bush and Chertoff. Brown was also allowed to address the whole Arabian Horse Show thing.
Many of you know that I worked (and currently do) in retail for a long time, specifically in the vaguely described "video retail market." Now, I avoid details of certain aspects out of my life on this site for a variety of reasons. I avoided bringing up the fact that I worked for Suncoast at the time because I discussed aspects of my job while employed there, which is considered by many companies a bad thing, regardless of what is being discussed. This is no longer an issue for Suncoast, as rival retailer FYE purchased the chain for a whopping $107 Million this month. ($107 Million? I had a friend at UVA who will make that much as a pro footballer! I think this can safely be described as a steal.) While Suncoast is responsible for two great things in my life (Wendy and my wife), I don't miss it at all. It's just another proof for one of Liam Neeson's lines in Star Wars Episode I: "There's always a bigger fish."
Many of you know how much I love Formula One racing. I also at times watch other forms of open wheel racing, including a few IRL races, some Champ Car, and the new A1 GP series. This past weekend, rookie driver Paul Dana died in a crash during practice prior to the Toyota Indy 300 in Florida. Dana crashed into the back of Ed Carpenter's car after Carpenter crashed into the wall at turn two. The basic circumstances are that Carpenter slammed into the wall, skidded along, then eventually slid down towards the infield, which is where Dana hit his car. Drivers were warned of Carpenter's position at the wall and told to drive low. Everyone did, as did Dana, but unfortunately Carpenter's car slid eventually slid low too. Telemetry showed that Dana did try and slow down before hitting Carpenter, but noone will know when exactly he saw Carpenter's car. Both drivers were airlifted to the hospital, and Dana was soon pronounced dead. Carpenter was, remarkably, relatively unhurt. Some idiot for the AP blamed Dana (who obviously cannot defend himself) in an article that stated that Dana lied about his past to get this drive, and that he bribed his way into the team. There is no denying that Dana was a rookie and that may have played some part in this accident. The author of the article clearly does not know about racing. Rookies often get their shot at "the big drive" by earning the trust of sponsors to get funds to buy their way into the lowest rungs of the driving ladder. What this article does not address is that to get into these cars, drivers must earn a special licenses and pass numerous tests before they are allowed to test in these cars, much less race. So, was Dana some plebe off the street? Not at all. Was he inexperienced? Maybe. Was this a tragedy that deserves an article written by someone with more tact and understanding? Definitely. (I should note that the article as it is now posted has been changed several times and no longer includes much of the negative "reporting" by Mike Harris. In fact, it seems that another author has re-written key paragraphs of the original article entirely.)
Enough of all that. Back to the Ottoman Empress. Sammy has discovered her roots. My grandfather was a jazz drummer, having played with Les Brown and His Band of Renown (of "Sentimental Journey" fame). I am named after him, and I have some of his drumming habits woven into my DNA. Well, some of that got into Sam's too. Her other grandfather, her namesake, was a musician with the Army Band and clearly having all of this musical background has manifested itself in the wee one.
My mom gave us her old living room coffee table, which is plastic and has smooth edges, because of the child. Sam clearly likes it: not only is it a good height for her, but it also has good auditory qualities. It's also good for one of daddy's toys:
As I mentioned earlier, Sam has been teething. (My friend Dana noted a Volkswagon ad where a guy calls dibs on a car by licking it. He mentions that their nephew, like most kids, licks stuff to claim it.) Sam has licked a variety of items around the house during this phase of teething, including the bottle of Tylenol, which has a soft plastic cap. Apparently, however, she needed something a little stronger:
The aforementioned Dana and his wife gave us some Shiitake mushrooms for Christmas, and they came in a plastic bin. Well, the mushrooms are dried. Combine dried mushrooms with a large plastic bin and you get a very enticing musical instrument for a young lady. Or, perchance a new chewtoy for a taste test:
It's no secret that Sam is an inquisitive young lady, and when she sits on my lap and I hold the camera, she simply must check out what's going on:
Here are a few other miscellaneous photos from the past couple of weeks that were too good to not post:
And now, for the real reason so many of you come to this site: the culinary adventures of Samantha Katherine! We begin with a quick adventure for the wee miss as she takes her first steps towards the family addiction: caffeine!:
And finally, the solid food chronicles continue. we're now beginning to combine some foods as certain things have been eliminated from the allergy list. Unfortunately, because money is tight we've been unable to give Sam the more broad spectrum of foods we would like simply because organic foods are really expensive right now. However, we're making do (and so is she - literaly). However, she is having no qualms about showing her displeasure with us regarding our choices for her. She is certainly her mother's child, developing a sweet tooth that I will hopefully be able to break her of as her palate grows when she can digest heartier foods. Like cornbread and collards! Enjoy:
See y'all later...
|
