Tons-hell

I did not anticipate that Patrick would start fighting in the operating room, sobbing and pleading with me not to let them near him. I did not anticipate that they would not come and get me before he regained consciousness; so he woke up alone and frantic and by the time I got in there his eyes were swollen and red with misery. I did not anticipate the choking or the fact that the anesthesia made him claw at his face with his hands. I did not anticipate that he would be desperate to cough but be unable to do so and as a result he struggled for air until his face was dark purple and the veins on his neck stuck out like cords. I did not anticipate that he would vomit in the parking lot after being released, showering the side of the car with every last bit of the rainbow-colored popsicles he had obediently consumed despite having zero enthusiasm for them. And I did not anticipate that he would proceed to throw up repeatedly in the car or again at home... or again or again or again.

Fortunately, you had warned me about all of these things and while I was not truly expecting any of it I was somewhat prepared for it. As Patrick cried in the OR I remembered the comment Sarah left about how hard the same thing had been for her and her child. When he woke up in misery I was reminded of what Isa had told me about the choking and the blood and how it would get better as the anesthesia wore off. And Gina and Jennifer, to name just two, had warned about the nausea and vomiting; so I had brought in my purse a big Ziploc bag lined with a paper towel or two, as well as a stack of wipes and a change of clothes for Patrick. Cris had told me that outpatient means anything less than 24 hours but can mean as many as 23 and she reminded me how important it is to bring your own pillow if you are sleeping at the hospital. So I packed a just-in-case overnight bag and I remembered the pillow. It served a dual purpose because Patrick saw the bag with the pillow and asked about it as we were leaving. I said the plan was to come home after the surgery but any number of things might happen to change that plan and I wanted to make sure he had a lot of special things from home in that case. Patrick thought that sounded reasonable. We didn't need it but we had it and I was glad.

All of which is to say: Patrick had a hard day, I had a hard day; however, the blog comments that I had received prior to this hard day made it better for both of us - significantly, measurably - and I am  more grateful than I can say for your generosity in sharing your experiences.  

I made the BONEHEADED decision not to wake him up at 7:30 this morning for his next dose of tylenol with codeine. Yesterday he was not able to fall back asleep afterwards and I thought I would let him wake up on his own this time (I still woke him up last night at 11:30 and 3:30... why is it that they can make regular tylenol taste like bubblegum but the addition of codeine tuns it into battery acid? Patrick keeps wanting to punch me in the middle of the night.) When he finally got up at 10:00 he said his throat hurt. It was the first time in recorded history that he has ever said this. I think we can conclude that Patrick either has an insanely high pain threshold or he has diminished nerve function in that area for some reason. I asked him to rate his pain on that nifty hospital 0-10 scale - immediately after the surgery he was at 3.5, last night he was at 1/8. This morning after almost seven hours without pain killer he hit his all-time high of FOUR. I gave him more medicine and he ate a bowl of sorbet and another one of oatmeal. He seems to be eating better than ever although he obviously feels terrible. I guess giving him carte blanche was all he needed to be an enthusiastic diner.

Despite the, what, two hundred comments you guys left all more or less saying that the first couple of days can be very rough, I am surprisingly overwhelmed by this whole thing. Patrick is being... there are no words to describe the mood he is in. Awful? Godawful? That's during the day. At night he is pitiful and still sleeping in our bed. Yesterday afternoon he curled up in there around 4 and slept until almost ten. Then he was awake until one in the morning; I starting reading him Ribsy and did not even notice when he fell asleep and I just kept reading. Yes, last night I stayed up until 2 am reading a Beverly Cleary book - and not even the sublimely good Fifteen or the slightly less good but still ok Luckiest Girl. Nope. Ribsy. 

I feel drained and tired and I hate listening to Patrick's raspy breathing and watching him dissolve every five seconds.

So I have got nothing funny, nothing...

oh wait.

BEFORE surgery Patrick was in rare form.

My mother was flying in while he was in surgery so the plan was that she would come from the airport directly to the family waiting room. The nurse asked if I was alone. Patrick answered for me, saying yes, for now. The nurse said, oh who else is coming? Patrick said, well, if she (pointing at me) were me; then her (pointing at me again.)

I said, what?
The nurse said, what?

Patrick sighed and said, my mom's mom is coming.

++

The ENT asked if he has any questions.

Patrick said, "Yes. In your office you said you had removed 8000 tonsils. Was that 8000 individual tonsils or 8000 pairs?"

"Pairs," she said promptly, "so 16000 total."

"Have you ever removed just one tonsil?"

"Almost never and then only if the patient was already missing the other one for some reason."

"Have you ever considered removing half of each tonsil?"

"No."

"Did you just tell my mommy... my MOM... that you would probably remove the adenoids too?"

"Yes."

"But I have never had an issue with the adenoids before!"

"Actually you have. Your file shows that your adenoids were severely inflamed during your hospital stay. Also, removing the adenoids does not increase surgical risk or recovery time while keeping them in does increase risk of future illness. So if I think they need to go while I am in there I will take them out."

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"No. I have never killed a kid. Never. It is not happening."

"OK," said Patrick.

++

The anesthesiologist asked if he had any questions after telling him that he was going to "take a little nap" after breathing "some goofy gas" out of a "cool fighter pilot mask."

Patrick asked, "Do you still use ether?"

"Uh, no actually we use [long name] but it is a great great grandchild of ether. That and nitrous oxide to help relax you."

"Why did doctors stop using ether?"

"Well, the two major reasons were the incredible risk of fire associated with ether and the difficulty of controlling the dose."

"Did people used to wake up during surgery?"

"Uh, yes, I have heard that they did."

"Will I wake up during surgery?"

"No way."

I said, brightly, "Is nitrous oxide a combination of nitrogen and oxygen?"

"NO," said the anesthesiologist and Patrick in unison. Patrick looked mortified and said, "I think we're done here."

++

If I could I would curl up in a ball on your living room rug. This suuuuuucks.

In the meantime I am working through all of the non-traditional households stuff. THANK YOU. Your response was exactly what I was hoping for and I should have more than enough material once I interview gobs of you to write something interesting. It is, by the way, tentatively slated for January but I'll let you know when we get closer.

Speaking of writing, I have another request for interviews. This article is dear to my heart (for obvious reasons): I am looking for stories about close friendships that started online or, as my editor put it, ways that women have been able to use the internet to "find their own tribe." For me the starting point was infertility/pregnancy loss but I know there are about a billion other little subcultures out there and I would love to hear about them (as well - don't feel like you are being redundant if your friendships started with infertility too.) So if you met your very best friend or close group of friends through blogs or message boards or chat rooms or mailing lists or... YOU KNOW... and feel like talking to me please let me know. Send me an email or leave a comment. I am really looking forward to this one.

I know there was something else but... meh. I need to get back to Patrick. The eating is ok but he only seems to drink anything if I am sitting next to him offering sips every other minute.

This is hard. Hope you are well.

PS I got to use my voice recorder last night. It was totally cool.

PPS I just asked this at Scrambled but... any protein suggestions for a kid who hates eggs?

Comments

[Kris]

I met my boyfriend through a somewhat *cough* indecent roleplay room. And my best friend through an online game. If that counts for anything.

[Alexis M]

I just googled Soft High Protein Foods and came up with this: http://cancercenter.slu.edu/nutrition/?D=33 At this point, even though yogurt looks good to throw down his throat, I would try to avoid dairy as it creates phlegm. Although not protein, I did prefer Jello and Popsicles myself. Just my $0.02 - give Patrick my best and tell him to milk this for all that it's worth - something like this comes along once in a lifetime!

[Betsy]

{{{ Julia and Patrick }}} That had to be so hard. It was hard just *reading* it. I'm so sorry it's been tough for both of you.

I kept waiting for the scene where Caroline does something devilishly sweet; but it didn't come. So I know you're having a tough time for sure.

Even when Patrick is getting ready for surgery, he's still hilarious. I don't think I could ever give up reading your blog; it's just too delightful. Which? I'm sorry to say that just after you've had a rotten couple of days. But it's true.

[Karen]

I'm sorry that Patrick is having such a tough recovery. I hope tomorrow is a better day(it will be!)

I joined an online group of expecting moms when I was pg with my son. It is now 9 years later and there is still a core group of us that talk almost daily. I have only met 2 of them IRL but consider some of these girls among my closest friends.Feel free to email me:)

[mama2beans]

I've found my second family online. I am a surrogate and surrogacy is a lonely path, most of the time. Finding and gathering together these fantastic women and intended parents to form a support group has been the best thing I could ever do for myself, and I truely and honestly feel like they are some of my closest friends. In fact, I found my intended mother this way, and will be growing her little one some time this fall! And I get to watch my surro-twins grow up right before my eyes, hearing of their daily antics, because even though my former intended father and surro-daughters live in Norway, they are a part of the support group and I get to *see* them all the time. It has been fantastic.

About Patric; I have nothing. But just thinking of one of my little ones in that kind of misery makes me a bit sick to my stomach.

[L]

I hope Patrick feels better soon and you forget most of the horrible experience. How much does he remember?

The medicine my older one was given before his surgery not only made him easy going but also according to his nurse caused amnesia. He didn't remember a thing.

[plunkie]

Aww, I hope your home is healthy and happy again soon. What an awful way to wrap up summer!

Protein... all I have is tapioca, what my mom fed me (homemade) after oral surgery.

[Diane]

I've belonged to a soap making forum for six and a half years. Some of the 6,000 members are my BFF. Send me an email if you want to know more.

As for Patrick, poor little bunny! And don't you dare tell him I called him a bunny.

[Erin]

Poor Patrick :( I hope he gets to feeling better soon.

People I've met online have shaped my life in incredibly amazing ways. I play an online game where I've met my closest friends, along with my now fiance. Because of our friendship and support from that online community we've since come together and have a beautiful three-month old daughter.

[Kate]

I actually can't eat eggs. My parents always gave me yogurt or cheese as non-meat breakfast food substitutions. As an adult, the yogurt is what I go for.

[tgsdmom]

Julia, you are such a kind Mom (or mommy) that I am sure Patrick will end up having some fond memories of this period.

Best wishes for a fast recovery.

[lisa]

I am sorry recovery is hard on you (and Patrick of course!) I meant to comment on your last post wishing you well but forgot.

as for online communities. I used to follow you and Linda on iparenting (they are now on disney family...lame!) and when you both got your own blogs I followed you, in my mind you two are best friends =) I was actually inspired to start my own blog and through it I have found many quilting "friends" I ask for advice and am inspired by their projects. I also am still friends with some of the people who were on my "expecting and due in june" boards, one I am close facebook friends with now...thats the short story =)

[Brenna]

Just went through the tonsil thing last year with my son, so you both have my sympathy.

As for the online friendship thing, this is nowhere near the scope of infertility, but I met my best friend on the fanclub messageboard of a band. The really weird part is that we actually went to the same high school at the same time, but we didn't know each other then, just one of those 'small world' things.

[terri c]

Poor Patrick, and poor you. I remember before wisdom tooth extraction someone told me I would be surprised by (1) how awful I would feel and (2) how quickly I'd get over it in a few days. Sounds like tonsils are the same deal.

[Vanessa]

Poor Patrick! Hopefully he will soon be back to his normal penetrating and inquisitive self.

Re: your question, in summer 1998 I joined an e-mail group for women with babies due in January 99. Through that group, I became friends with another mom whose daughter was born four days after mine. We introduced the girls to each other for the first time when they were 18 months old and they've been best friends, despite the 40-mile distance between them, since they were about 3. They're now 10 1/2 and have recently taken to e-mailing each other when they're apart, which I find delightful considering that they know each other, in a roundabout way, because of the Internet! (The other mom and I are still very good friends too.)

[beckyk]

couscous!

[RocketGrl]

Does he like split pea soup -- lots of protein, veggie vitamins and tasty even lukewarm.
Even after outgrowing a childhood allergy, I will not eat eggs unless they are extremely well disguised (chocolate mousse or creme brule, anyone?)so beans, greek yogurt (FAGE), dairy, nuts, peanut butter and protein powers are my go-to items.

[Amy]

cottage cheese has a ridiculous amount of protein in a small serving...

[Courtney]

I think you should interview Kay and Ann from Mason-Dixon Knitting (a knitting blog). They met online in a yarn chatroom many, many years ago, and now write a blog together ( http://www.masondixonknitting.com/ ) and have published two books together.

Poor Patrick. Poor you. I hope he gets better soon!

[Rebecca]

I hope Patrick feels better soon!

I met my other half online, and my two best friends. In fact, a lot of my closest friends. I never fitted in "IRL" but online I found community. Email me if you want more.

[Christina]

Beware constipation! A really good friend's son just had his tonsils out last week and they have seriously struggled from constipation due to the codeine in the tylenol. She also has had a heck of a time with him (he's the same age as your Patrick) during the recovery.

On the off chance you'll find something new, here is a post I did on protein (for prenatal nutrition, but still...): http://www.birthingyourbaby.com/2008/05/eating-protein-for-healthy-pregnancy.html and here are some recipes that have mostly have good protein: http://www.birthingyourbaby.com/2008/05/recipes.html

[Elizabeth]

I'm so glad that the anticipation and the surgery are OVER. I hope Patrick has a speedy recovery.

[jenn]

I have a daughter who is infamous for rejecting protein in all forms. But even she will drink Carnation Instant Breakfast (which has protein, but I add an extra dollop of protein powder from the health food store) made with sugar-free vanilla frozen yogurt and milk. Tastes like a yummy milkshake.

Another idea is beans. If he'll eat them, great. If not, puree them and throw them into things like spaghetti sauce. He'll never know.

[Jackie]

I'm sorry that the past few days have been so tough. I hope Patrick is feeling better very soon.

I came into my own, and met not only my closest friends but the women who are really my role models for how I want to live my life, through the online knitting community. I started a blog 5 years ago, 'met' a few other girls through their new blogs, went out for breakfast with some 'people I had met through the internet' which I was pretty nervous about at the time, and 5 years later here we are. I'm part of a rich and varied group of women, and the knitting is just a side note. Through their encouragement and example, I switched careers, I wrote a knitting book, I pursued significant changes in how I feed my family (practically vegetarian, organic CSA members, etc.) We live in various states, but several times a year we get together for long weekends (now with our babies in tow). They're the people I go to for support, for consolation and for advice. Also, for super fun times and sanity checks.

On a completely different my SIL was a (lonely) accountant in DC and loved watching the West Wing. She met a group of women on the messaging boards for West Wing, and they became her people. Through their encouragement, she quit her job, moved to LA to pursue a career in the movie industry, and after 8 months of looking for a job and living on her new friend's couch, she found a great job with a small production company, which 6 years later has since become a big production. Her West Wing friends live across the US, but every year they take a week-long vacation together.

If either of our stories would be helpful for your article, I'd be happy to talk with you, and I'm sure my SIL would too. She's really sweet.

[Cookie]

Poor Patrick. I know it's so hard that he's feeling this way. On him and on you. And from everything you've written about him, if he's saying he's in pain, he must be in a lot of pain. I gave a few suggestions on Scrambled, but the kid's nutrition drinks I was talking about are made by PediaSure and they have a lactose free version - http://pediasure.com/Products

[gretchen from lifenut]

I'm so glad Patrick is doing okay, considering what he's been through. I hope the remainder of his recovery is speedy and that he bounces back fast.

[Wendy]

I hope Patrick is feeling better soon. My 3yo son just had eye surgery (muscles adjusted in each eye), and the effects of anesthesia are awful, even if you're prepared. They gave him a suppository of anti-nausea meds to prevent any vomiting, for which I am devoutly grateful. I'm glad it's over for both of them!

On the subject of online friends -- I left my beloved career as a litigator in 2007 due to health problems (complications after my son was born). I was sort of wandering around aimlessly and only knew one other stay-at-home mom. I started to get really depressed and I was so lonely. Then I read on my parenting board about a knitting website (ravelry) and checked it out. From there, I found a weekly knitting group, started a playgroup for knitting moms and made the 2 best friends I've had since college. And I'm totally okay with being at home now :-)

[Daisy]

Greek yogurt has a ridiculously high level of protein & it makes a nice, thick smoothie. Clams are also quite high in protein but I'm thinking the Greek yogurt might be an easier sell.

[Juno]

Oh, I remember when I had my wisdom teeth out - all four - at 11. I screamed and clawed from anesthesia, I thought I would choke to death and those fuckers (I'm still bitter) were holding me down instead of letting me sit up, I vomited - mostly blood that I had swallowed. It was one of the singularly miserable experiences of my life for about 4 days.
All my sympathy, Patrick.
As for the internet - almost everyone I know in my life who is really important I know because of the internet - from blogs mostly, but also e-dating. It's a remarkable tool for finding your like-mindedly-odd souls.

[llcsis]

I second the Greek yogurt thing. I never liked yogurt til I had this stuff. Fage - 2% is what I buy (can get it at Trader Joes) and I put it on about everything; oatmeal w/ fruit, smoothies (w/ frozen mangos & strawberries from TJ's is my kids fav.), instead of sour cream (really) on potatoes, nachos, w/ salsa verde on sweet potatoes...

[Kim]

Whey protein powder. Whole Foods has several varieties, even a vanilla flavored one. It can be stirred in with just about anything. I hope Patrick begins feeling better very soon.

[Barbara]

I am so sorry Patrick had and is having such a nasty time with the tonsilectomy. It is horrible to see your child suffer. Each day will be a bit better, so hang in there. I was able to hold my 3 year old son as he came out of anesthesia from having tubes put in his eardrums and his adenoids removed. He was screaming hysterically and thrashing frantically in my arms. I will forever be grateful to the nurse who reached out and grasped the scrub jacket of the anesthesiology resident who was fleeing the scene, and said, "JUST a minute, the kid is in pain and I want a morphine order". Ten seconds after she injected the morphine into his IV tubing he was able to relax and stopped screaming. After that, I was able to comfort him by rocking him and singing his favorite songs. He didn't need anything else but Tylenol later on.

[Helen]

So sorry to hear about you and Patrick. I also agree with Adrienne that nitrous oxide is obviously a combination of nitrogen and oxygen. It's one of those things that we learned in chemistry class many years back. The ending of the words is supposed to clue us in on the actual number of molecules or something. Oxide, hydroxide, all the ide's are supposed to be one of those circle things... I think.

Protein - my son hates eggs, but he loves cheese. High in fat, unless you get low-fat or fat-free cheese. In all forms - solid, melted, in ravioli, etc. Also soy milk. I put soy milk in his cereal and he seems to like it. Yogurt - like many others have mentioned. Particularly the ones with fruit mixed in. They have the squeezable tube ones, which might be attractive to Patrick. Would he like eggs if it's mixed in with cheese? My kid used to eat quiche and souffles - all with the cheese blended in. And then there's all the meat with protein, but another reader hinted that you might only be interested in soft foods at this point. Chicken pot pie. Is the chicken soft enough in that? I remember a post about shelves full of chicken pot pie in Canada or something to that effect. :) Hope everyone is feeling better soon.

If this posted twice - sorry - I wasn't sure it went through and had to try again.

[Annabelle]

I'm so sorry the post-anesthesia time was so difficult. I hated not having parents back when the kids I was taking care of woke up.
As others have suggested - tofu, pb, yogurt. I make a pb-banana-yogurt smoothie for myself most mornings.
Also? If his pain isn't awful awful awful it might be better for him and his tummy to switch to plain Tylenol. I was post op in December and found that the pain meds made me feel worse on day #4 - instead of making me feel better.
You should be on the upswing soon...

[Lioness]

I know it may not seem like much right now, but it will be: when I was 5 I had my tonsils and adenoids removed. I still remained sickly and up into my early 20's I'd become ill at least every 2 months, often every 3 weeks or so. But from the moment I was born until I was 5 I was constantly ill. Ulike patrick I couldn't fucntion very well, I was also anaemic and looked otherwordly, all pale and tiny and huge-eyed. From the moment I had surgery it all became far more manageable, and even when I became ill it wasn't as intense. I cannot imagine what my parents went trough, not just in terms of actual tiredness from constantly caring for an ill child, but the permanent heartache and worry and there not being much they could do - until evil tonsils and adenoids came out. His recovery sounds hellish, poor thing, but what it represents for his future general well-being is humungous. He will no longer be in pain, which even the stoic feel, you as parents will no longer fret so much. You will have spared him a whole lot. Patrick's freedom will be hard won, but won it will be all the same. Sorry for the rambling but I do have string feelings about people's right to life quality and medical decisions being made o time, so all in all, I am delighted for all of you.

(I have forged friendships online that I never would have thougt possible, bonds which I am certain will remain forever and have even led to transcontinental visits and regular phone calls. One of my best mates is a bloke I have yet to meet, but that doesn't change the fact that he has indeed become my mate. My life has changed because of blogging and in a wondrous manner that still robs me of breath when I really stop to think about it. If you need me, email. If not, best of luck with the article anyway.)

[Melissia]

You should ask Patrick what he remembers from his hospital day, as it is very likely he remembers very little due to the drug Versed, a common drug given before and after surgery that causes retrograde amnesia. Chances are that he remembers very little of the entire experience. It may settle your mind to know that the experiences he had post operatively are somewhat normal, especially for children but he does not remember them and will not be afraid of future surgery should he need it nor is he likely to suffer with memories of these experience.

[Zannah]

So the ENT has killed an adult or two?

[Clover]

Poor Patrick. Poor you. I'm sorry its been so hard. Plus having toddler twins on top of it. Hope it gets better soon.

Re: more interviews- I have gotten very close to a few bloggers after having first "met" them online. One of them, Menita from Life's Jest Book, is actually my youngest son's godmother.

[Lisa]

That story about the Nitrous Oxide made me laugh outloud. I love Patrick. I hope he recoups very quickly.

I met a great bunch of friends over the internet. I met them back in the Fall of 2000 at Toddlers Today (which I think was a iparenting site?) on the post/discussion area. Some of them had known and "met" each other earlier, since pregnancy. We moved from the site, to a yahoo groups with probably 15 of us. There have been split offs and people leaving to LJ and Facebook, so we are still in touch, but much less so now that our older kids are in school and much of the women are working. But it was a lifesaver group with all the kids were small with many of us being stay-at-home moms. We shared advice on potty training, weaning, sleeping through the night. But also shared everything we were doing. We've been through divorce, miscarriages, loss of infant, moves, marriage, dating, and all that life brings. It's an amazing group of women. I've actually been able to meet 3 of the women in real life. So fun. And lots of the others have met up as well.

[Heidi]

How my mother handled FOUR limp lumps at the same time after our surgeries is beyond me... It'll shift quickly.

[shriek house]

Oh, I'm so so sorry that it has been so awful. Hope you both are feeling much better soon.

Protein: tofu, tofu *noodles* cleverly disguised as just noodles, hummus, black bean dip, tuscan white bean dip, yogurt tubes (stonyfield) frozen solid, grated mozzarella sprinkled on something else he likes (toast?). You can also just get protein powder at a healthfood store and put it in a milkshake.

[Kathy]

I feel for you. My twins had their tonsils out a week ago Thursday, and the first four or five days were really rough. But it does get better.

Oh, and yeah, the vomitting. One of my girls actually needed a gravol suppository on day four. It made a big difference, but wasn't too pleasant for either one of us. :0)

[Aurelia]

Yes, do talk to Patrick, he quite likely does remember everything, and will need to chat about it, so he doesn't freak out when you need to take him to that hospital again.

Honestly, the more you tell me about the hospital, the more I think they need to learn about Family Centred Care and the more I think they need a swift kick. Call the patient rep, you may discover that they were supposed to have you in the OR until he fell asleep and then summon you before he awoke, to prevent all that panic from happening. They also should have given him some gravol with the morphine in his IV, and more gravol in post-op. Evidently, they forgot. Or are incompetent. Either way, please call the patient rep.

As for the tribe question? Well, baby loss and infertility are obvious, but mental illness bloggers and gifted LD bloggers and parents of those kids are others. A lot of us really were very alone and didn't have anyone else to talk to or compare life experiences to before the net and blogs and twitter. I like to joke that the internet is the place for all those with unmentionable experiences to gather and talk. God knows you can't bring it up at a dinner party and your regular friends just don't get it.

Adoptee bloggers and birth moms are other groups I can think of and I can send you some links if you like.

BlogHer lists might be another place to find people who have linked up and become friends with unusual subjects in common.

[Rhonda]

Just wanted to send my best wishes to Patrick and to you. Hang in there.

[kellie]

Patrick is hysterical - hope he's feeling better today!

I met my online "tribe" back in 1996, when several of us were planning our weddings. Eventually we all got married, and by then we were sick as hell of weddings but still wanted to keep talking, so it became a newlywed group. Then we started buying houses and having babies (or trying to), and more people came along, and we moved into different places online but there is still a core group, 13 years later. We've had babies die and divorces and moves and fights - but also babies grow up and new marriages and making up and learning about people and places and opinions different than your own. There have been meets all over the world. I can't imagine my life without this group of amazing women as friends.

[Victoria]

My two sisters and I all had our tonsils out at the same time, back in the days of ether. Also back in the day when you had to stay overnight in the hospital after a tonsillectomy. My dad tells the story that after the surgeries were over and we (all three kids) were back in our one hospital room, he brought my brother up to visit. And found my mom completely passed out from breathing in the ether fumes we were breathing out. Thank goodness they don't use ether anymore.

[Krissa]

I met my bestest most best of best friends online because of Rent.com - I was moving, she had a room to rent. We didn't meet until the day I moved in because I was out of state until school started again, and within weeks I knew it was going to be a life-long friendship.

It is now 4 years later, and we are still roommates and best friends. In fact, I just moved across the country (to DC!) with her, because we are young and single and figured "why not?" And all because we "met" on the internet. :)

[Leigh]

He wll turn a corner any minute now and it will all be better!

[M]

I hope Patrick is 100% very soon!

I have a very close group of internet friends. We met on www.theknot.com message boards when we were planning our weddings in 2000-2002. We left the knot.com message boards and have used various forums for the last eight years. There are about 200 members, including 2 men. We've seen each other through so much - marriage, kids, divorce, affairs, illness, taking care of aging parents, Hurricane Katrina, military deployment, widowhood.... This year many of the oldest kids are starting first grade, and we've really enjoyed seeing the pictures each week of the first day of school. It is really interesting how people you haven't met (for the most part, many of us have met at least one other member in person), can become such a big part of a person's life and support system.

[Kate W.]

So sorry about Patrick! Isn't it amazing the stress we suck up for our children??

I have a good blog friends story for you- We have just had our second Blog friends "girls weekend." Three out of the nine of us are now pregnant and due within days of each other. I don't know what I would do without them. Their wisdom,laughter and friendship is priceless.

If you want more info just send an email.