Noah had oral surgery this week. The surgery was performed under general anesthesia because the surgeon had to cut open the roof of his mouth and extract a set of unerupted extra teeth.   The surgeon explained to us that it was a little bit harder than expected and that Noah would be very sore for a couple of days.  He strongly emphasized that we should give Noah the hydrocodone syrup he prescribed.

Noah experienced intense pain almost immediately after groggily climbing into the car and our drive home was twenty minutes of agony, for him physically, and me emotionally.  Meanwhile, Joel went to Walgreen’s to fill the prescription. (We had both been at the surgery center and were now dividing and conquering.)  We dosed Noah within minutes of arriving home.

We settled Noah into the recliner with a pillow and blankets, his favorite show on the t.v., and an iced tea next to him on the coffee table.  His tears subsided and we crashed after having maintained cheerful façades of not being worried, despite being worried.  Both of us have seen and experienced first hand the “risks” of surgery, personally and professionally.  And, Noah is our worrier and he had been quite tense in the days leading up to the surgery.  We trusted our surgeon, but letting our son roll down the hall away from us on a stretcher to a room full of strangers was harder than we dared think about, much less say out loud.

About thirty minutes after taking the hydrocodone, Noah, who by now was loopier than a rollercoaster, sat straight up and slurred woozily, “Mom, this medicine is SO GOOD!”  He climbed out of the recliner and began wobbling around the family room while holding his mug of iced tea like an alcoholic clutching a flask.  He was so unsteady that we told him not to walk up or down the stairs.

But, the entertaining part to an otherwise stressful day, was that Noah made for a sweet and happy drunk who repeated himself to us over and over.  And over again.  “Mom, thank you for …….Dad, thank you for …….Boy, this medicine is GOOD.  Mom, thank you for……Dad, thank you for…..Boy, this medicine is GOOD.  Mom, thank you for…..Dad, thank you for….Boy, this medicine is GOOD!”

Yes, it is good.  Good medicine, good outcome, and our good humored little boy.