Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I Am Twelve Years Old

So today at the periodontist, the assistant asked my for my birthday. Without thinking, I immediately replied, "8-14-98", which is . . . Ben's birthday. It makes me think I've spent way too much time talking with medical personnel about Ben lately.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Welcome to the Real World


So, after missing five weeks of school, I decided that yesterday was the day that Ben needed to return to jr. high. I could tell that he was nervous about going back, and he isn't 100% physically better, but I figured that at this point, the benefits of staying home were not as great as the risk that school would become more and more dreaded, and scarier than in needed to be. Sometimes its just best to take a deep breath and go out and slay your dragons.

Ben returned home from school in good spirits. He said that the yelling kids made his head hurt. (I'm with you on that, buddy!). He felt a little stupid because he didn't know where to sit in any of his classes. Reportedly, "about a million" people asked him about his scar. He told them, "I had surgery, and it hurt a lot." All in all, I was pleased with how he seemed to be dealing with his first day back.

The picture shows Ben's new haircut, and how he isn't attempting to hide his scar. You can also see that all of the stitches have now come out.

Thanks to Henry and Connor for smoothing the way back for their brother. It's good to have a support system in place. Another thanks to Ben's in-home tutor from the school district. She always brought him candy, and loves the Indianapolis Colts just as much as Ben. If it were up to him, Ben would have worked with her all semester. Also, thanks to the staff at Willow Creek. Everyone had been very understanding. I'm impressed that Principal Browning came up to the hospital to visit Ben, and knew who he was talked with him last week when we had to drop something off at the school for his brother. It's good to know that he is not forgotten in such a large school.

Edited to add: Ok, so yesterday was an "B" day, and today was a "A" day meaning Ben went to totally different classes today. Since his surgery he has been really sensitive to loud, shrill noises. Apparently, the foreign language teacher Ben had today likes to BLOW HIS WHISTLE in class! What? Ben was pretty upset about that. I'll have to think about the best way to handle this . . .