The Impossible

One week.

For just 7 days Ty needed to rest.

To stay "down."

To avoid activity.

I'm sure Ty's doctor had visions of him resting quietly on the couch all week with only the occasional gentle stroll into the bathroom. I am sure there are not many 6 year old boys who could actually achieve that but it was the picture that the nursing staff and doctor painted for us before sending us on our way just two hours after surgery. "Make sure he doesn't move around too much."

Our first day after surgery. Who plays like this with abdominal incisions, stitches, and a catheter?

I kept thinking, "His body will tell him if he is over doing it. He'll be in pain and I will be able to tell him 'this is why you need to rest' and then he'll settle down." But he never did. I never had any proof to back up my continued argument that he needed to rest. He felt fine. He had virtually no pain. None of his movements were uncomfortable. "Because Dr. Huang says so" and finally "Because I say so" just had to be the end of it. This child must question and challenge everything.

We spent the week playing game after game after game. I may need to put SORRY away for a while, it remains Ty's favorite but I am losing my desire to move those little plastic chocolate drops around the board. We watched at least one movie a day, we read books, we put together dozens of puzzles, and we completely covered the refrigerator with art work.

But every time I turned my back Ty was doing karate kicks, jumping like a rabbit, 'running' on his hands and knees, climbing up the door jams, or otherwise bouncing off the walls. He asked to ride his bike the first 3 days after surgery. He asked to swim. He asked every time someone left the house, "Can I go?" And every "no" was met with dramatic grunting and "Awwwwww!" By the end of the week everything became "no fair."

While I am extremely grateful for a smooth and easy recovery with minimal discomfort or complication, I am still recovering from this experience. Tuesday we went back to the doctor and received the "green light" to resume normal activity. But our whole family is still twitching a bit from the stress of being cooped up.

We are an active family. We are almost always outside. Running and playing are a part of our daily routine. We tried to get the rest of the kids out and about each day. But we also tried not to make Ty feel like he was being left behind. So everyone is on edge this week as the dust settles. I am looking forward to the four-day-weekend with daddy so that we can all get our bearings again before school resumes.

Strangely, I don't think the experience as a whole could have gone any better. When I reflect on everything start to finish there's nothing I could have changed. We were blessed with the best, even though we are exhausted.