The Rest of September

He sadly informed me, "Mama. Dis died."

Well. Elijah's surgery was the climax of the month. Then came the recovery. To let you know how that went, here are my two status updates from the following day.

My people. The meds are making the boy crazier. Wilder. Rougher. Hungrier. Keep-touching-your-sister-ier. Call-your-pharmacist-uncle-because-isn't-oxy-supposed-to-be-sedating kind of crazy. He was not a calm and gentle child to begin with. help.... me... ‪#‎IWasToldThereWouldBeSnuggles‬

You wouldn't believe yesterday's drama if I told you, so here's a few excerpts from this morning's. -- Fighting children. Need to unpack and clean house from being gone a week. Girl flipping out over the smallest thing. Boy recovering from surgery. Dead decaying turtle in the tank that somehow escaped James Bruckmann's notice. Giant panic attack. Scooped out living turtle from the watery grave using a dustbin while praying at the top of my lungs.

It's like on Hoarders when they tell the homeowner that there are mummified cats under the piles of dirty dishes.

Yep. Easy peesy.


Caitlyn started cheering at the football games this month, although they don't give us a very good schedule. It makes it tough to figure out how to plan for her games and Elijah's soccer games. (I marvel at the parents who have 2+ kids in sports and handle it well.) She also turned 8 this month and is becoming such a young lady, but still she has the fun and silliness of a little girl.

Elijah and I drove back to Chapel Hill for his followup appointment where we again waited much longer than expected. Thankfully our friend took Caitlyn to a play in Charlotte, so I did not have to deal with kids fighting on the drive. We also enjoyed a trip around the world that weekend at the UNCC International Festival.

The kids and I had the opportunity to visit Monticello for their Home Educators Day. We were slightly late for our tour because on the way up a backseat brawl began over an empty bagel wrapper. While I was pulled over refereeing, one of those wide load half of a house trucks passed us. We then had to follow said truck for 30 miles. In the Virginia mountains. Yay. We did learn a lot about the time period and Jefferson himself, and I learned that we shouldn't take trips to locations more than five miles from our home.

To browse through more photos and stories from the month, click here.



A video of Elijah getting his wiggles out at Red Bowl after our last hospital visit.

Caitlyn's first cheering at the Cowboys pep rally.

An informative video about a plant at Monticello.

Well Done, Grasshopper

I try not to brag, but sometimes it can't be helped. Check out this story my second grader authored and illustrated using a key word outline she wrote. She even typed it herself with just a bit of formatting help from mom.

E's surgery

Elijah was born with a melanotic nevus, something in the mole family most people called a birthmark. At birth, our pediatrician told us that we would need to have it removed when he turned five. There wasn't much concern of cancer because he only had one, but having it removed would still be the thing to do. So at his four year checkup, she referred us to a dermatologist. The dermatologist said in no way would he have it removed because cells could be left behind and cancer could occur with no visual indicator. What? I was thrown for a loop. So we had a third opinion with a pediatric dermatologist. She told us that we should have it done, but only at Chapel Hill where there are specialized pediatric surgeons who would take enough margin to bring the cancer risk down to zero.


I stayed with my grandparents who are an hour away from Chapel Hill, because we wouldn't know the surgery time until the day before. This is laughable, because they told us to get there in the morning, but Elijah's surgery was pushed to 2 in the afternoon. It was a miracle that he wasn't grumpy with nothing to eat that day, because I was STARVING. As soon as they put him under, I took off my surgical gear and headed straight for the cafeteria. Somehow we kept him occupied. I was glad Jamie decided to come. On the way, however, his transmission finally gave out. I had previously told him that should this happen, he was on his own. Wouldn't you know that with his luck he ended up breaking down right next to a car dealership where he test drove a vehicle to the hospital! But he was a great help in entertaining Elijah during the hours we had to wait.

When Elijah woke up, he was so violent from the anesthesia that they had to put him back under. I wish they had let me back there to help calm him when he woke up. He was hard to get to wake up the second time, but the nurses wanted to go home so we finally bribed him with some apple juice. Unfortunately for me, the pain medication they gave him made him CRAZY! This was especially unfortunate because the kids and I had to drive to the car dealership where we had to wait for an hour for Jamie to talk the price down on a van he purchased. (Seriously. My son is still bleeding from his stitches. Knock a thousand off and let's call it a day guys!) When we got home of course he wanted to eat snacks and run around all night with his dog rather than rest.

I am glad to have it done while he is young and bounces back so easily, but you try keeping him still so he can heal! Thank goodness his surgeon makes tight stitches.

While we ate another snack, Elijah made a flipagram of his day.

Post by Carol Anne Oakley Bruckmann.

Occaneechi

Prior to Elijah's surgery, the kids and I stayed with my grandparents in Roxboro. One aunt entertained us with dinner and a waterfight, but I promised not to put up those photos (wink, wink). Another aunt took us to visit my cousins school, to say hello to our old dog, and on a field trip across the state line to Occaneechi State Park. Native Americans once lived here on an island in the Roanoke River and had wealth as a stronghold on the Great Trading Path. The tribe scattered as a result of Bacon's Rebellion, and the island is now a reservoir. We explored an ati - a typical dwelling place - and visited the small museum there. Caitlyn had a wonderful time with her stuffed pet fox as she pretended to be the matriarch of the tribe.

I think you will see how I could count this as a school field trip when you see what Elijah learned about the Native American roots of the game of golf - proof that these natives came from Scotland, not across the Bering Sea. Enjoy.