A few weeks ago, the monkey started bleeding from his mouth. We didn’t know why. We thought a tooth may have fallen off. But after trying to stop the blood to figure out its source, we noticed he had a huge lump on the bottom of his gum. That’s where the blood was coming from. I couldn’t belive it. And the worse part is that it looked like it had been there for a while.

My heart sank. How could I have not noticed this?

We called the Urgent Care and they advised us to go to the ER. When we arrived, I went in alone. I needed to register him and I knew the monkey in the waiting area would be a disaster. While I was working on the paperwork, I notified them of our situation. My son is special needs and he will not let a stranger look inside his mouth. We knew this will be tough.

When my husband brought the monkey in, he was already very scared and ready to leave at all costs. We kept telling him that this was to help him stop the bleeding but his fear was too much.

The doctor came in and told us that they needed to sedate him just to examine him, which we knew this would be the case. The staff was so kind and helpful. They were understanding and patient and tried so hard to make this experience easier for the monkey. When we have staff that are this understanding and caring, I cannot explain the gratefulness we all feel. I get overwhelmed at the love from complete strangers.

The doctor told us they had to burn the gums to stop the bleeding. Since he was sedated, they also took advantage and ran blood work and a CT scan. They realized his white blood cells were very high and he needed antibiotics.

It was a long long night in the ER. When we finally left, we had to follow up with his pediatrician and dentist. We were exhausted.

The following day, the dentist told us that we needed an oral surgeon to remove the overgrown lesion. She recommended we do this immediately. Although not an emergency, the monkey was in a lot of pain and discomfort.

We went to the Children’s Hospital early the next day. The monkey was so scared he fought us all morning. We were completely full of scratches by the afternoon. They had to sedate him a few times so that the surgeons could examine him. They were able to book the OR quickly and his surgery was scheduled by 11 am.

This experience brought back so many memories of when he was young. The constant ER visits, the multiple specialists coming in the middle of the night trying to figure out why his oxygen numbers kept decreasing. The constant fear of losing him. The coming home thinking we were out of the woods only to be back in the ICU the following week. And every time we would come back home, the monkey would regress. First he stopped looking at us in the eyes. Then he stopped communicating. And last he stopped seeing us, he stopped being part of our world.

But now we see just how much he has grown. How he understands more, communicates more, and is present all the time. He has come a long way.

The monkey is doing great now. It took him a bit to get back to himself but he’s back to himself. He’s so funny and silly. And he’s also very loving. Always wanting to kiss us and hug us. And when one has experienced what we have, we treasure these gestures very much because we know its true value.

The monkey has changed us so much. He’s shown us how to love more, how to be more patient, and how to appreciate the little things.

Although this experience was terribly unpleasant, he came out healthy.

It’s all in how you look at it. ❤️