Sunday, May 16, 2010

Back to school tomorrow!

Hi folks, just thought I'd dash off a quick post before I hit the hay
- I need to be up bright and early tomorrow to get Charlie to school!
I can't believe he's going back already - and in such great shape.
He's improving day by day, and seems to be growing like a weed too. I
still find such pleasure in his pink cheeks - the only way I could get
them like that before was to wash his face with a hot flannel!
It was actually quite an emotional experience, getting his uniform out
for the morning, and packing his breaktime snacks in his lunchbag. I
remember so vividly putting his tie in his dresser drawer and stashing
his lunchbag in the cupboard before his op - sick with terror at the
thought that I might never have to get them out again.
But look at us now! I can honestly say I've never derived so much joy
from polishing a pair of school shoes and packing a bookbag. I know
I've said it before, but I still can't believe we're here, post-Fontan
and (so far) doing brilliantly.
Charlie's looking forward to getting back to school and seeing his
friends -it obviously feels like a really big day for him because he
asked me to buy sweets for him to take in for his class - something
that's normally only done on birthdays. It seems like a nice way to
say thank you to everyone for all their thoughts, prayers, cards and
presents over the past month and a half.
Can you believe it's only eight weeks ago on Wednesday that he had his
surgery? It seems like a lifetime ago... and yet we're still getting
used to the fabulous 'new normal' we're living now. Just when we think
that Chas has stopped improving, he does something else that he'd
never have been able to do before, and we're amazed all over again.
I do feel rather sorry for Charlie's teacher though - I'm sending him
in with a rather lengthy letter (ok, it's more like a short book)
explaining all about his pacemaker and warfarin therapy. I'm sure
everyone must think I'm a paranoid mother, but it's just the way I
work - once I know that they know everything they need to know, I can
relax and let him go off to school without worrying.
It goes without saying I'll let you all know how Charlie-Barley gets
on tomorrow.
That's about it for now, but here's a couple of pictures of Charlie's
guinea pigs - he is SO delighted to finally have pets he can cuddle...
our tropical fish really weren't cutting it any more! The one above is
of Charlie with Gig, who is the most confident and curious of the two.
I've had to put the picture of Pinny, the timid one, in a separate
post below because I still haven't figured out how to attach two
pictures to an email from my iPhone. (Any tips, anybody? I'm sure it
must be doable!). Pinny's much smaller than she looks in the picture -
she fits perfectly into my hand.
Anyway, I'm off to bed - hoping that everything goes smoothly for
Charlie tomorrow.
Back soon.

2 comments:

Lindsey said...

Hi Ali it's brilliant Chas is going back off to school tomorrow. An 8 week turn around is pretty amazing. He's an inspiration to us all. Much love XXX

kay said...

Aww I love this pic ! xx