A Fun Weekend, Luke's Surgery, and Report Cards

On Saturday morning, we had Luke's baseball game. We bought him a new bat and it has thrown off his game a bit. He still managed to get on base for 2/3 at-bats, but they were little hits. Not much came to him in the field and his team lost. They have now lost 3 or 4 in a row. But, the other team did what I don't like--put all their best players in the hardest position. Luke's coach rotates players around, which I appreciate. They are 7 and 8 years old, in my opinion, they should be learning the game, getting better, and having fun, not just focusing on winning. So, I don't care if we lose (or, at least I try really hard not to, but in two of the games we have been ahead until the very last inning, that is harder to swallow).

Saturday afternoon, we went to Islands of Adventure. We wore clothes we didn't mind getting wet and sandals and did the water rides. We also rode Hagrid's, Spiderman, and other rides. We had tater tot meals (green eggs and ham was my favorite) in SeussLand and had a super fun night. They closed at 8 and we stayed until closing.

A fun Saturday night!

Sunday, we did Jack's birthday request and visited St Augustine. We left around 9 and stopped at Buc-cees on the way. That place is a destination in and of itself! I think I wrote about it before, but it is a massive gas station. We got gas and everyone picked out breakfast. The food was really good.

They even have their own mascot and lots of merchandise to prove it!

We got to St Augustine around 11 and toured the Fort, we let Jack pick out some souvenirs, then got ice cream in the old town area before starting the drive home. We stopped at Buc-cees again for a late lunch. 

Hanging out at the old Fort!

Ice cream!

Monday was Luke's oral surgery. We scheduled his appointment a few weeks ago and it was hard news to hear. Then, we went on our cruise and I basically put it out of my mind. Some family members were a little hurt that I hadn't told them about it beforehand. And, I understand that, but I honestly just didn't think about it. I don't know if I was compartmentalizing or what. But, it didn't really hit me until Saturday. Then, I spent the rest of the weekend feeling nervous and worrying. When I couldn't sleep on Saturday, I decided to ask for prayers on Facebook for Luke. It felt a little hypocritical, as I have not been very religious for a lot of years, but I did it anyway. And, of course, I prayed too. The operation itself was relatively minor--30 minutes outpatient. But, Luke is little and he's never had anesthesia and we don't know what the cyst is and I just hated the idea. But, of course, it had to be done. 

They only allowed one parent to attend, so Thomas took him to the appointment. It was very sad watching them leave. Luke wore his pajamas and brought a squishmallow for comfort. When he arrived they gave him a relaxing drink. Thomas said he was nervous at first, but once the drink kicked in, he was pretty funny and would randomly giggle. 

Once it was time for the procedure, Thomas had to wait in the car. They called him when it was over and he basically picked Luke up at the door and came home. Luke was incredibly out of it, he couldn't sit up straight in his car seat and asked about 100x if they did the surgery. He would also randomly cry. When they got home, he couldn't walk and his pupils were just darting around everywhere. It was freaky. He stayed loopy for a few hours, asking the same questions repeatedly. We tried to get him to sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep and was very chatty (mostly just the same questions--did he have the surgery, did Dad drive him home and did Dad take the day off from work).

He was in pain by the afternoon and we gave him medicine. He tried eating ice cream, but it made him nauseous. He finally ate one scrambled egg. That was it for the whole day. We played card games in the afternoon, including Love Letters, Dos, and Phase 10, which is new to us and really fun. Slowly, Luke turned back into himself, which was a relief.

Closed eyes never lasted long.

Today (Tuesday) he woke up feeling much better but his jaw is very swollen. He ate a little more (a smoothie, soft noodles, eggs, and ice cream) and spent the day doing electronics. Because of how swollen he is and his limited diet, we are keeping him home from school. Hopefully, he will go back on Thursday, but we will see. He has to be careful that he doesn't do anything to injure the jaw until the wound heals.

Swollen face.

We go back on November 1st for a follow-up and to get the biopsy results. They should be able to tell us what kind of cyst it was and how likely it is to come back. Obviously, the biggest fear is cancer, however, that is very, very unlikely. So, we aren't even considering that a possibility. Hopefully, it was a random cyst that will never come back. 

We were super grateful for the prayers, texts, phone calls, and even gifts received! Luke (and I) felt very loved and supported.

And, to end with some more happy new: the kids got their first report cards. All three middle schoolers had straight As! We are super proud.