So long Tonsils and Adenoids!

Being a daycare kid D has had his share of illnesses!  Tons of ear infections his first year, had back to back strep this fall.  I was told that when he starts school he will never be sick.  He did snore... as loud as Andy.  Even while awake he would snore and breathing out of his mouth so much he'd drool.  I mentioned it to our doctor who sent us to an ENT.  After a quick appointment we scheduled surgery for May 6.

The pre op appointment went ok.  You never know what D you are going to get, the one that is like velcro on my leg or the one that walks in like he owns the place.  Sadly Akron Children's Hospital experienced velcro Dylan.  The closer it came he would ask questions like, "Are they going to use tiny scissors?  Are they going to slam dunk my tonsils in the garbage?"

We were excited to be in the hospitals brand new building that opened the day before.  It was so new they were cutting zip ties off the cords in his room!  Dylan was very nervous, didn't even want to put on the PJs.  I instantly began to tear up, this was going to be a fight to the end!  The Child Life Specialist touched my arm, I said a prayer and tried to pull it together.  They ended up giving him medicine that calmed him and had an amnesia effect.  Andy asked him if the medicine made him toot, and he quickly blamed it on the anesthesiologist!  He was so loopy he insisted on riding the bed sitting up instead of laying like the nurses wanted.  As I watched him sway back and forth on that bed while the nurses tried to keep him on it, as soon as he was out of sight the tears poured out that I had held back earlier.          

The surgery was surprisingly fast and before we knew it we were headed back to recovery and could hear screaming...  This is where our sitcom like experience began, Dylan was hysterical!  (No surprise, I react the same way from anesthesia.  I mortified my mother when my wisdom teeth came out.  "WHERE AM I??  WHY AM I HERE??")  D's poor nurse looked relieved that backup arrived.  I tried to get him, he was kicking and thrashing with cords everywhere.  Shortly into Andy's attempt, he yells, "I'm sweating!"  My turn again while Andy walked out of the room to cool off.  Never had he used the word "ouchy" in his life that was all Dylan could say while trying to stick his fingers in his mouth!  That resulted in him throwing up and my screaming, "OH SH*%!"  While I'm assuming he was still fanning himself Andy yells from the hall, "LORI YOU NEED TO RELAX!"  The nurses quickly gave D some morphine and he fell asleep.  We left our mark on Akron Children's and I am sure there is now a "note" in our file.  

Dylan woke up asking if his tonsils were gone, they DELIVERED his meds to our room and we were gone.  He's been off and thought I could send him to daycare today.  Well, I'm home because just as the paperwork said, "Increased pain one week post op" came true as last night was the worst night we've had.  He wakes up crazed, not wanting to take his medicine, not wanting a drink, so when he wakes up its for a while and it's all night long!  I've been told we made the right decision and it'll be best in the long run.  So I am welcoming any advice to get us over the hump!  I come away from this experience: thankful for my healthy babies, thankful for Akron Children's being close when they are not, and praying for the families we passed in the halls that were dealing with much more than large tonsils.