Post Post

Post surgery and post holiday, Sam is doing great. The day of the surgery, Sam fell asleep during the car ride home and barely woke when I brought him inside. I took off his jacket and put him in his bed and he screamed and then went back to sleep. I thought that's what recovery would be -- sleeping and screaming. But I was wrong! After he woke from his sleep he felt great and was happy jolly normal Sam! He is healing just fine, we just have to let him sit in water at least 4 times a day. Usually we use this netted chair thing in the tub for baths, so he doesn't usually get to sit in the water. So we brought him to the kitchen sink for some sitz baths and he loves it!! He's so cute. These pics are from the day of the surgery.

Christmas was nice. Despite terrible roads in Michigan, all the Michigan family made it down to visit, so that was really nice. They are still here for one more night. Everyone has been preparing the food and feeding me so finally I might get to return the favor tonight (though I think Meg might be doing some cooking too, even though she already made some amazing desserts).

Sam got lots of new clothes and toys from his generous aunts, uncle, and their significant others. Sam and I opened the gifts over a few days and he seemed to have some fun with that.

Surgery Day Part 2

We're home! Sam did great. He's such a charmer. I am so glad to have it done. I was so optimistic yesterday and before the surgery. Then when he was away from us I nearly had a mini panic attack. Part of me wonders if the panic hit right when he was given the anesthesia or when they were doing the cutting or what. Anyway, seems like Sam is doing A-ok. He cried a lot in the recovery room when he woke up, but as soon as they took the IV out and he got into his pjs he calmed right down. He's sleeping now. When he wakes he'll probably eat again and get a sitz bath.
No stitches because the stitches can lead to infection in that area of the body.

Phew.

Surgery day.

It is about 4:10 am and we will be leaving soon for the hospital near Indianapolis. Sam is feeling good this morning. Surgery is at 8. I will let you know when we return.

Oh, I got an on-campus interview for the professor job. So excited and scared.

Updates to follow.

Christmas is coming...

Sam doesn't know about Christmas yet, and I suppose he won't really have the anticipation and excitement for Christmas morning for a while still, but I'm getting him primed for indulging in superficial consumerism from the get go. Well, it's not really that I WANT to do that, but I had to give in and buy a few new toys because he doesn't have many and now he's getting to the age where he really likes to mess with stuff. And it will be fun because he'll like playing with the wrapping paper and "opening" gifts. Anyway, we also wanted to take a Christmas photo to send to family and friends. His Aunt Sarah N. sent him these super-cute Christmas pajamas, so it was time to go over to Aunt Meg's to light a cozy fire and take some cute and some corny pictures. These were some good pics that won't be arriving to you by mail.



We are expecting the Erlewines to do Christmas here in Lafayette this year, but bad winter storms may prohibit some travel -- Michigan was just hit pretty hard. Tom and his girlfriend Jeanette are supposed to arrive TOMORROW so that's great. Haven't seen Jeanette in over a year and we don't get to see Tom too often. I should probably come up with some activities or something. Or at least buy some groceries, haha.

Tuesday is Sam's surgery. We have to leave at 5 and be there by 6:30. His surgery is at 8. Poor little guy.

With all this healthcare activity around me I decided I better FINALLY get myself a primary care physician just in case I get sick or something. So I went on Friday and I like my new doc. She's easy to talk to and helpful. I've been having some headaches lately which isn't normal for me. I described them and she said they sound like tension headaches. Basically told me how much Tylenol I can take, haha, so that wasn't that helpful, but I really think it's something that proper diet and sleep can prevent. And I'm not surprised I'm a little tense these days though. I also talked to her about how I've healed from Sam's birth because I was a little concerned. Turns out I have had some complications in healing so I will go back and see my regular obgyn after the holidays. Hopefully nothing serious. Sigh.

By next Wednesday, I should know whether I get an in-person interview for the Prof. job. I don't expect to hear from the library people until after the holidays. I will of course keep you informed. I haven't been applying for anything else, but will probably resume that once I hear more about these positions. It looks like I will be teaching a class for Purdue over the summer and I cashed out an old small IRA so I think we'll be able to squeak by until Fall. Could be a great chance for me to work on some art/design projects anyway. Yes, I'm ever the optimist.

All done...

Second interview (first for prof job) went a LOT better than the first. It was very short, they just asked me to describe how I met the requirements listed in the job description. Everyone was very nice and saying "great" and "thank you" all over the place. There is no reason based on this interview alone that I won't be invited for the next round of interviews. But nothing is ever quite as simple as that, is it.

Anyway the position is part of a new program they are working to develop in digital illustration. It will be manned by my prev. prof, the painter on the committee, and this new position. I think the main obstacle for me would be if there are other applicants who are accomplished illustrators, since I am not in my work nor training, specifically an illustrator. But that thinking is counterproductive. I can now focus on how I might go about developing a program in illustration so I can wow 'em with my brilliant ideas?

Anyway, it feels like a little success.

Tonight Aaron and I are going on a date. First date in, oh, about 5 months :D

One down, one to go...

First interview did not go as well as I'd hoped. So I don't think I'm going to get this job, and if I do, it's questionable as to whether I'd want it. Usually I think I can gauge whether I'll be offered a job by the interview -- if I feel good, I got it. If I don't, I didn't. I don't feel that good.

There were three people interviewing: prev. boss, department head, and new boss. Department head asked generic questions that I answered well, prev. boss highlighted the experience I'd had with them, new boss tried to point out my weaknesses and she succeeded. I could not lie and say that I had library experience I did not have. I could, however, probably have answered questions more effectively. She basically was like "I know you haven't had any workshops or classes in archival training or library studies, so you might not know the answer to this one, but I'm going to ask what two terms mean to you: 'jargon 1' 'jargon 2'" ... umm... all I could say is that, no I couldn't answer that without some prior research. Bomb. New boss CLEARLY would like a librarian in the job, and I am not a librarian. So I guess even if I were to get the job because old boss and department head were pulling for me, it might be a miserable work environment. She is probably resentful that she is in charge a position and gets to build a team but doesn't get to build it the way she thinks it should be done -- I can't blame her I guess. The funny thing is that the job is Digital Collections Coordinator and all of the descriptions are all about digital collections with one line about assisting researchers and processing collections...in the interview, new boss said "As you know from reading the job description, this job is 1/2 digitization 1/2 collection processing..." But it's not like you can correct the interviewer during the interview...

Sigh.

Time to rebuild the confidence for interview #2...

Surgery cost update...

I guess it's not polite to talk about such things, but they make health care costs so mysterious that I think public sharing of this info is important.

For this 10-minute outpatient operation, it will cost approximately:

$1557 for surgeon fees
$4100 for facility fees
$500 for anesthesiologist

Good thing we have some insurance. We expect insurance to cover 80% but we'll see. Nothing is ever a guarantee with this stuff. Other good thing is that the hospital does have a need-based program that relieves some or all of the expenses, based on debt/income ratios. With college debt and little income, I'm guessing we'll qualify, but we'll see. Guess we get through these things one step at a time. It all just makes me feel so sad and depressed. It makes me depressed that I have to worry about this at the same time I am worrying about the well-being of my son. It makes me sad that cost has to even enter into my thoughts on the matter. It makes me sad to imagine people in my financial situation who don't even have insurance.