After Connor's great showing at the district Academic Decathlon meet, it was time for him to deal with an uncomfortable chore we'd been putting off for years. As a result of Connor's broken nose and subsequent surgery back in elementary school, Connor had a debilitating deviated septum that required surgery to fix. It was difficult to schedule the surgery with his busy schedule, but we decided to knock it out as soon as he was out for winter break. When the day came, we all dreaded it but none more than him. He was not looking forward to the painful recovery but knew he needed to get this done. On the day of the surgery, we waited for HOURS for Connor to get called back. We were hungry and miserable, just wanting to get it over with!
Finally, it was time for Connor to go to the operating room. I waited not-so-patiently for the update that Connor was out of surgery, which seemed to take an eternity. When it was time, the nurses said everything went smoothly but Connor was having a hard time waking up. I remembered this from his prior surgeries - he doesn't too great on the anesthesia. This time was no exception. Not only did he have trouble waking up, he also broke out in hives all over his body - on and off for a couple hours or so after the procedure. The nurses monitored him and eventually felt that it was some type of reaction from the anesthesia, but he seemed ok and we were cleared to go home. On the ride home, I noticed the hives all over his face and neck again, but they went away as quickly as they arrived. Bizarre! Connor made it home and into his "recovery suite" (the guest room, haha) where he planned to spend the next few days sleeping and relaxing.
As if Connor's surgery wasn't enough for the Courtright household to manage, Jeff decided to schedule his own surgery for the very next day. After years of dealing with painful plantar fasciitis, Jeff's quality of life was really taking a hit and he realized that he needed the surgical repair to be able to get back to his normal activity level. So, with Connor recovering at home, I drove Jeff for his foot surgery and prepared to get him set up at our newly minted Courtright household infirmary, ha!
Jeff's surgery went well and we were headed home in no time. But his recovery was going to be much tougher than Connor's, because Jeff was told he couldn't bear ANY weight on the foot for at least 2 weeks, which meant he couldn't drive or do anything active like he was used to. Anyone who knows Jeff would understand how difficult that would be for him, especially as we entered the 2 week period before Christmas. It was going to be a long road - for both of us!
As the recoveries progressed at home, Connor was feeling better day by day. When we went for his post-op checkup, we realized that the doctor would be removing splints from Connor's nose. I honestly had NO idea about the splints - I felt that the post-surgical instructions were minimal and confusing. So when the doctor pulled out these finger-sized splints from Connor's nose, we were both shocked! Immediately Connor felt so much better and could begin to breathe normally.
As for Jeff, the Christmas holiday was super frustrating for him being laid up and unable to drive or do anything on his own. He drove the rest of us crazy, seemingly doing too much too soon, when we all wanted him to be patient to achieve a full recovery. After Christmas, we were able to visit the surgeon and finally get the all clear for Jeff to slowly begin walking again. Praise the Lord! He was already feeling so much better and couldn't wait to return to normal activities in the coming weeks.
