The Difference Between Canada (specifically Newfoundland) & Finland

Sorry it's been awhile - my oldest son had surgery recently so now I am home for the week (yes it's almost over - I realize that) and finally made time to sit on my arse and blog.

So I bet you're wondering what are the differences between Canada and Finland?
There's tonnes!

• Language:  Finnish/Swedish are Finland's national 2 languages where as English/French are Canada's.
• Currency:  Euros versus Canadian Dollars (which are not the same as American ones).
• Flags:  Finland's is white and blue, whereas Canada's is white and red.
• The post-surgery advice after a child gets their tonsils removed.

Ha -  I bet you didn't expect that last one, eh?  (A Canadian term - the Finnish equivalent of "no, niin" or "voi ei!" - just randomly placed wherever...and sounds like the Finnish "ei" - which means "No.")

Well, V got his tonsils and adenoids removed on Monday morning and tubes inserted into his ears... and I was advised he should take lots of medicine 3x a day (mixture of Tylenol/Ibuprofen...or Finnish versions:  Panadol/Burana) and eat only smooth and cold foods.

I was prepared!  I had vanilla pudding in the fridge, ice-cream in the freezer and yoghurt available too.  Oh and some mini smoothies ready-made...
Did he eat any of it?!  No.
Did he eat anything in the hospital?  No - just drank juice boxes and some water.  And we had to stay there overnight just in case of bleeding.

There weren't any stitches - they left it raw and to be honest - the stench of his breath post surgery made me want to hurl....

You know how in Twilight, Bella complains that she doesn't like blood because she can smell that iron/"metal" smell in it?  Yeah me too.  And no, my Edward equivalent doesn't glitter in the sun.

Apparently it'll get worse when the scab falls off - good gracious I'm not ready for that.  

ANYWAYS, my friends on Facebook have been super supportive and tossing me advice about how to deal with post-surgery pains and screams and so on...and some wanted to know the procedures in Finland.

As I'm not a surgeon and I don't think the one we had was too bright (he had 0 idea about the tubes in the ears bit), I just know that the child is given tablet pain killers, then a liquid one to knock them out about 50%...then some laughing gas I guess - as there was a mask of some sort in the bed with my son after....and they do the surgery and ta-da - they wake up.

A friend of mine - who is from Newfoundland, was shocked when I said that I was making smoothies and he was drinking from juice boxes.

Her boyfriend's son had his tonsils removed a few weeks ago and he was told:

• Don't drink from a straw.
• Don't cough.
• Don't eat bananas because they can cause your throat to swell.

Well, I guess drinking from a straw was okay - because the hospital gave us juice boxes as it was easier to drink from than a cup....

And the not coughing - ick...that's hard to control -but another reason why (in Finland) they recommend that the child is not sick prior to surgery....

And the not eating bananas - well, I had to refer to a nurse friend here about that.  She never heard of anything like that (and her own tonsils removed here about 15 years ago) and even a search on Google.fi - proved this was wrong.

There was only 1 case of someone saying their throat hurt more after getting their tonsils removed and then eating bananas...most people in Finland were eating lots of bananas because they're soft.

I asked if he was allowed to sneeze and she said that was pretty much all he could do.
But he didn't bleed or have any infections.
So that's a good thing I suppose.

Oh and my boy is eating chips and other crunchy snacks (he's super picky) as of today...here's hoping it doesn't bite us in the arse later.