A Fourth Surgery Under His Belt

We got up bright and early (actually it's not bright at 5:15am) and arrived at the hospital to find that there was a bit of a scheduling mix-up. Joshua wasn't taken back into surgery until 9:30. So we sat in pre-op for a few hours trying not to remember that we could still be under the covers at home.



Joshua, who is now a little too old to be fooled about what's going on, had ridden to the hospital wide-eyed and mostly silent. He softly sang along with some of his favorite music and then burst into tears as soon as we turned into the hospital parking lot.

In the pre-op room, though, he was introduced to Nintendo, and all his troubles melted away.


By the time the nurse came to wheel him back to the operating room, he was either completely distracted by the video game or resigned to the fact that there's no point in fighting things.


We are told that the surgery was successful, and after months of speech therapy there should be some major improvements.

He made it through the next few days with some very sad faces and big, quiet tears (Watching him cry so somberly makes me realize that I actually miss the screaming...)

But he started to perk up about the time his guests arrived...

And in the past few days has recovered pretty well and felt strong enough for a hike this morning.