Whew!

This last Friday, we left for our last trip to the Valley for Sawyer's treatments. It was sad to leave such gorgeous weather!

Usually, Sawyer's appointments are on Fridays so I'd pack up while Mike was at school in Show Low and then meet him there and we'd go on to the Valley together. This time, Sawyer's appointment was on Monday so we had a full weekend in Mesa.

I got a new calling in The Young Women's program in our ward and we were able to go to the Phoenix Temple open house with the youth on Saturday. It was so beautiful and awesome that we got go tour it as a little family. To say it felt very "eternal" is the best way I can describe it! I love these four people so much! I'm also so excited about my new calling! I love being around the girls in our Young Women's! They strengthen my testimony so much!

This time Sawyer's appointment was on a Monday because he had to get a tenotomy, or "heel cord lengthening" on his Achille's tendons (Caution: don't watch the video in the link if you have a weak stomach!). Here's Dr. Bethur removing Sawyer's casts before they took him to the OR.

Mel was once again generous enough to watch Grant and Rems so Mike and I could go together. We're confident they had a much better time with their cousins than they'd have had with us!

She even watched Grant for an extra few hours so Mike and I could take a nap with Remi and Sawyer. We're sure glad Brian talked her into joining our family somehow!

Although the tenotomy is a pretty low risk procedure, I was really nervous to have my baby go under anesthesia! I did feel much better after the anesthesiologist came and explained to us how it was going to go. He said he'd put him under by having him breathe through a mask, and then give him what was similar to an epidural to numb the bottom half of his body. That way, he could have pain relief without having to administer narcotics through his IV. The  whole "going under" thing was still scary, but hooray for no narcotics in his bloodstream!

Mike and Brian gave him a blessing the night before, and I know we had a lot of people praying for us because I felt very at peace that next morning when we got to the hospital. It seemed like Mike and I had barely gotten a chance to eat breakfast and start up a conversation when they called and said he was out!

I thought he was going to be pretty lethargic afterward but he was pretty active and seemed to just be angry! The nurse reassured us that he wasn't in any pain but suggested we give him demerol to help calm him down.  This made no sense to me! Up until now, I've always kind of let healthcare professionals do what they think/say is best but I feel like I learned a lesson in making informed decisions and being an advocate on this trip. Why, after taking precautions to NOT have to give him drugs IV and after preparing us so much that he might be irritated coming out of the anesthesia, would we add MORE drugs to the mix? And a narcotic to boot!

So we said "no thank-you" to the demerol. And wouldn't ya know, all he needed was a big burp and he fell asleep in my arms a few minutes later. 

Sawyer 's castings and tenotomy are done! Woohoo! Now he's in one final pair of casts that will stay on until mid-November when he'll get his brace.

Standing at the beginning of his "adventure" was super overwhelming, but as the weeks went by and we were able to check each appointment off, it seemed to get easier. Now I'm just looking at the piles of things that have been stacking up in the last 6 weeks, hoping taking babysteps toward them will show results just as quickly!