WYATT’S SUPERPOWER SURGERY

 Bilateral Gastrocnemius Recession to correct Idiopathic Toe-walking. Phew. I'm not good with medical jargon, so I thought I'd start with that and promise no more big words!

Continuing with everyday vocabulary, here's a rundown of what the last few days have looked for us, all revolving around Wyatt's Superpower Surgery at Batson Children's Hospital.

|| MONDAY ||

The day before surgery, we drove to Jackson for a pre-op appointment with Dr. Patrick Wright. We had a very straight forward conversation where he summarized the surgery for us, and we left with instructions to arrive at the hospital at 7:00 am the next morning.

We also left incredibly hungry. But guess what?! Brent's Drugs, one of the filming location for 'The Help' movie, was less than five minutes from the doctor's office.

Brad knew I wanted to go there, but neither of us knew how close the doctor's office was to Brent's Drugs until I mapped it on my phone and saw that it was just a mile away. Brad has a tendency to get hangry, so he was happy with it being so close too.

He said, "Sometimes God is looking out for me."

"God's always looking out for you," I replied.

"Sometimes He makes it real obvious."

After lunch was over, we made our way to Brad's Parent's lakehouse. They invited us to spend the night and offered to keep Delta Mae the next day. And it cut our morning commute to the hospital down by about an hour. Yes and yes! Thank you, Ralph and Judy!

|| TUESDAY ||

It was dark, extremely dark, was we left the lakehouse at 5:32 am. Other than the almost accident due to two deer dancing in the road, I felt very calm. Actually I wasn't nervous at all. And neither was Wyatt!

: PRE-OP :

After being called back to a room, we helped Wyatt change into his hospital gown, and before we could even get him completely dressed, there was a gentleman at the door ready to bring Wyatt to the pre-procedure waiting area.

Dr. Wright came over to tell us that he had a great team backing him up during the procedure. He also said that the newly promoted pediatric orthopeadic surgical nursing director, Hayley, was especially fond of some of the new cast wrappings she had purchased, and asked if they could add a little hunters orange to the camo that Wyatt had asked for. Yes, please!

As they wheeled him away, I successfully fought back tears.

: POST-OP :

About an hour later, Dr. Wright came out to tell us about the surgery. He said that the tissue that he removed between the muscle and tendon was so dense, that he actually had to get a stronger pair of scissors to cut through it. He also said that we absolutely made the correct choice in moving forward with the surgery because physical therapy never would've fixed it. Thank God we got that reassurance. It's tough making decisions regarding your child's body.

Soon, we received our discharge papers and instructions, and started making our way home at around 1:00 pm. The time flew by, and I'm so thankful for that!

A full 24 hours has passed and Wyatt is doing wonderfully. We are still waiting for his walker to be delivered, but he's getting around great without it. I was impressed earlier today when he walked into our back yard with the help of just one of my hands. But later, we were back in the house and he was taking steps completely unassisted!

It's a whole new world for him, learning to walk with his heels on the floor, but he's pushed himself more than I expected already. It's a long road ahead, but progress has already been made. I'm so proud of you, Super Wyatt!

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EXPLORING MISSISSIPPI || NATCHEZ

In a recent blog post, I mentioned Natchez, Mississippi, and the Windsor Ruins as two of my five final locations to visit before we move. And this long Easter Weekend break provided the perfect opportunity for our family to make the drive over. So Saturday morning, we left the house and made our way to Natchez.

|| FIRST STOP || King's Tavern

The building which is now King's Tavern, is the oldest standing building in Natchez, circa 1789. For me, this home/building/structure was a must-see. Legend has it, that this structure is haunted by a young servant woman, found buried behind the fireplace after being murdered for having an affair with the past owner.

Today, King's Tavern is a... tavern. They offer lunch and dinner menus to their guests, with their top-selling menu item being Wood-Fired Braised Brisket Flatbread.

Did we order it? Yes.

Was it divine? Yes!

Brad even said that he had never had brisket that was so tender. But just so we could enjoy more than one thing from the menu, I ordered their Veggie Flatbread, with caramelized onions, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and mushrooms.

There were no leftovers.

And BONUS for you Dads and Moms out there! There is a spacious grassy area behind the tavern where Your Littles can run around and explore while you enjoy a taste of white rum distilled from neighboring Charboneau Distillery, the first to LEGALLY distill rum in Mississippi.

Here's what our visit to King's Tavern looked like.

|| SECOND STOP(S) || Walking Her Streets

The Natchez Visitor's Center offers a free map that includes five walking trails through Downtown Natchez. The King's Tavern is one of the stops noted on the Green Walking Trail. After leaving the tavern, we thought we'd try to see a few more historic locations downtown, so we walked north to High Street and then west toward Stanton Hall.

Along the way, we passed the Kyle House, pictured above. Apparently, back in 1820, Christopher Kyle and Nancy Kyle built this home, and later welcomed their daughter, Caroline. Only Christopher was a white man and Nancy was a free black woman. Scandalous for 1820.

"This is one of the few remaining examples of the small pre-Civil War houses that were home to working class white people and free people of color. The Historic Natchez Foundation saved this house from demolition in the 1980s."

 

Construction of Stanton Hall, formally known as Belfast, began in 1857. We were unwilling to pay the $15 entrance fee to tour the interior (no pictures allowed inside), but we were allowed to have a look around the grounds, which I very much enjoyed.

This beautiful antebellum home offers guided tours daily or rental for a special event. 

Documented in the picture above is the second time Wyatt exclaimed, "I love Natchez!" while giving a power line a big ole hug. The first time was during lunch at the King's Tavern.

How charming is the former fire station?!

In 1829, the Jefferson Street United Methodist Church was the location of the first organized Sunday School south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Our children were getting tired, so we made our way back to the truck, but then I spotted a steeple off in the distance. I wanted a closer look, so Brad drove over.

Construction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mississippi's first cathedral, Saint Mary Minor Basilica, began in 1842. It took over 15 years to complete.

|| THIRD STOP || Dunleith Historic Inn

We traveled about a mile down the road from the Cathedral and arrived at the Dunleith Plantation on Homochitto Street. 

In the late 1790's, John Routh built a home, The Routhland, as well as a carriage house, dairy barn, poultry house, and greenhouse on this 40-acre estate. Years later, lightning set the home ablaze and burnt it down. The home that stands there now was completed in 1856 and renamed Dunleith by a new owner, Alfred Vidal Davis, who purchased the home around 1859.

The Dairy Barn is now a three-bedroom, two-story cottage available for rental.

What was originally the carriage house, is now The Castle Restaurant & Pub. I love the architecture of this building.

The Greenhouse.

|| FOURTH STOP || Monmouth Historic Inn

Driving a short mile east from Dunleith, we arrived at Monmouth. In 1824, John Quitman purchased the home for his family. It was only six years old at the time. In 1850, John became the Governor of Mississippi.

The wisteria-wrapped pergola on the grounds was absolutely breathtaking, and the scent was heavenly.

|| FIFTH STOP || Windsor Ruins

Before we ran out of daylight, we made our way north to Port Gibson, Mississippi, to see the Windsor Ruins.

Construction of the twenty-three-room mansion was completed in early 1861. In April of the same year the owner of the home, Smith Coffee Daniell II, passed away. His wife and children continued to live in the home. The home survived the Civil War, only to be destroyed by an accidental fire in 1890.

"In 1991, historians discovered a drawing of Windsor sketched in 1863 by a Union soldier in Major General Ulysses S. Grant's army." Quote from the information marker at the location.

Saturday was a full day. We left our house at 9:30 am, and were gone for over twelve hours, but I enjoyed every bit of it! And we checked off two of the five bucket lists items. Who-Hoo!

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