I'm not sure if it was a good afternoon, or a tough afternoon, or an expensive afternoon, or a trying afternoon. I am sticking to afternoon and working out from there.
First things first - bear has trigger thumb. There is an issue with the tendon in the thumb and he will need a minor operation, probably under a light general. I am sure he will be fine.
Getting there was a stressful experience. Time was tight and I was really worried we were going to be late. I shouldn't have been stressed. We had to wait over an hour. Seeing some of the children there who were in far worse positions than bear made me very grateful for how blessed we are.
The doctor was very good, and explained things very well to bear. He drew pictures of the bones and tendons and he let bear know what was happening. I am confident that bear will be fine. I told bear that the anaesthetic would be fine, and whenever DH has an anaesthetic he has a lovely sleep and feels much better afterwards. Unfortunately bear asked how I reacted to anaesthetic. I didn't lie, but quickly moved on to reminding bear how much like his father was. I do not react well to anaesthetics well at all.
I have decided that it is less expensive to go the awesome maths tutor in a taxi. The bus fare for bear and I is £6.30. The taxi fare, including a reasonable tip, is £8 - but I don't get sucked into buying bear a treat. It is definitely expensive to hang around town killing time before the awesome maths tutor, but by the time we would have got home we would have had to go straight out. That would have been the less expensive option.
First of all we agreed to go to The Works for stickers at bear's request. However before we even got to The Works we had a diversion. Bear spotted the Dunkin Donuts shop. As he had been very patient in the waiting room I agreed that we could stop in. That was a doughnut for bear, one to take to the awesome maths tutor, a pack to share with DH and a drink. Then we called into The Works. For those not familiar, they are a shop that sell cut price kid's craft stuff, inexpensive but interesting books and all sorts of tempting bits of stationery. That led to a large pack of dinosaur stickers, one book on dinosaurs because the stickers were on a buy one, get one free deal which also included some books, and a completely unnecessary book on gardening which I am determined to use. That lot was £10 Another £10 went on a case for bear's tablet. The Doctor Who one had been for the wrong model, so we purchased a generic one from a barrow in one of the shopping centres. Then we went to a cafe which not only does gluten free and bear appropriate food but where the staff indulge bear. They had stopped serving food so we had a stop gap of cake with a drink and spent another £10. I can't remember how much bear's sushi was. I bought a pack for him to have tonight and a pack for breakfast tomorrow. Throughout all the shopping, bear was as focussed as a kitten in a feather factory. By the time we had got off the over crowded bus at the stop for the awesome tutor, I was on my knees.
In my defence, I had taken soluble paracetamol with codeine. It suppressed the cough, which was necessary. The continuing issue of convulsive cough and weak pelvic floor means that I am having to regularly change clothes and making me reluctant to go out. So the codeine cut that down a little. It also left me completely spaced out. I was glad to sit down and be quiet when I got to the awesome maths tutor.
However bear had also told me how lucky he was having all his nice things. He gave me hugs. And, for the first time with me, he went into the gents' toilets on his own. He is nine. I can't take him into the ladies with me any more. It was in a nice shopping centre, quite busy, and I told him if he got stuck or something then he should shout out and I am sure someone around would help him. Those few minutes he was in there were some of the longest I have ever spent. I should have known better. Bear came out safe, well and he had washed his hands and face! He no longer was streaked with the after effects of the doughnuts. That made up for a lot.
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