Tonsils, Adnoids and Tubes

Today was the day for my son, A, to get his tonsils and adnoids removed as well as getting a second set of tubes for his ears. He's 4 yrs old and got it from either his brother or sister that he was going to have something like a party after his surgery. He had decided that he was getting lots of presents and best of all, LOTS of popsicles!

He was very excited this morning when his daddy woke him up to get him ready to go to the surgery center. It was still dark in his room at 6:10 so he kept telling his daddy that it wasn't time to go because it wasn't 'morning-time' yet.

We get to the surgery center where, of course, they want their fee before they will do the surgery. The surgery center didn't bother to call me until 5pm the day before the surgery to tell me that there would be a fee to be paid in advance over and above the dr's fee I just paid 2 days before the surgery. I'm still wondering where they think I'm getting this money to had out the instant they demand it.

Well, the fees were paid. They had to be because my son needed the surgery. Without it, the dr said he could eventually lose his hearing (because of the ears and large adnoids) and/or choke/suffocate because his tonsil were so large. (His tonsils almost touched together when he was healthy.) We were taken back to the little room where the extremely nice nurses gave A his medicine that was to make him a little sleepy/silly. He also got a teddy bear, a coloring book and crayons from the nurses. He was quite happy with this set-up.

Only 40 minutes later, we were escorted back to see him. He was so very upset. He was crying uncontrollably. His daddy held him while I tried to get him to drink his Sprite. He wouldn't have anything to do with anybody or anything. Such is the result of the anethesia. The nurse decided he needed morphine to help calm him down. When she went to get the morphine, his 'Anmama' (my mother) gave him his 'presents' and he just perked right up. The nurse gave him the morphine anyway. I thought to myself that, well, he wil probably just sleep the rest of the day. That wasn't a bad idea.

It wasn't a bad idea but it wasn't A's idea.

He got a little sleepy on the way home. When we got home, A wanted to get up and play. He couldn't walk very well. His daddy would hold on to him while I was busy fixing him something to eat. A got on his hands and knees and began to crawl. His daddy thought that it wouldn't hurt anything since he was already that close to the floor. Nope. A's head suddenly became as heavy as a bowling ball and his head hit the floor. The poor baby ended up with a red spot on his forehead.

All day he was one active little 4 yr old. He wanted to ride his bike like his sister and brother. He wanted to ride his little 4-wheeler. He wanted to get back to his normal routine. The dr, Dr D, said no activities that made him get hot or jarred him. Since he has always been a busy little boy, this is just crushing his spirit, or at least he thinks so. We let him ride his 4-wheeler on the asphalt a little while it was cool outside. His 4-wheeler is the same thing as those little Barbie Jeeps, not a real 4-wheeler although he sure wishes it was.

He had plenty of company today. His great gm#1 came to see him and brought him a present. His aunt and uncle came to see him as well but he was 'too busy' to visit. He also had plenty to eat.... popsicles, flavored ice, mashed potatoes, gogurt, ice cream, and his favorite: salt and pepper catfish filet with a side of hush puppies!

We've been giving him his pain med cocktail (hydrocodone with tylenol) every 4 hours. He hasn't had any lately and we didn't want to wake him for it. He started to whine a bit while asleep tonight. We woke him up and asked him if he was in pain. He said no and went right back to sleep. I guess we'll wait until he wants something for pain. We do have the cool mist humidifier going right over him to keep his throat from getting dry and sore.

On a side note....

We found out that the Lifeline we had installed at gm#1's house does work. The Lifeline people called me this evening to tell me that gm#1 had fallen and couldn't get up. My dh and I went flying up to her house and got her back in the bed. She was fine otherwise. We had a little trouble getting the Lifeline box to reset but otherwise the system worked very well. I'm very impressed!

Waiting to Exhale...... C