Monday, April 19, 2010

The Tube Experience...



Well, we soon discovered that four ear infections in three months, and fluid that just won't drain, gets you a trip to the ENT and the grand prize of tubes in the ears.

Yep, the little miss is the lucky winner. Bright and early this morning we took her on a celebratory trip to the outpatient surgery center at Mercy and waited our turn amongst all the other parents of babies and toddlers waiting for either tubes or a tonsillectomy. I should have brought the camera, but I'm not exactly at the top of my game at 5am.

The little miss was sweet and friendly despite being awake so early and running on an empty stomach. She obviously doesn't get that from me. Low blood sugar= stay out of my way or your arm becomes breakfast.

The ENT moseyed his way down the line of partitioned cubicles like a cowboy inspecting the cattle in the chutes. The line was the same, "Dr. ____ here, tonsils or tubes?" And then he began picking off the unsuspecting children one by one. In a matter of 30 minutes, we were in, out, and sitting with the little miss in recovery, still smelling a bit fumigated from the gas they gave her. Somewhere along the way she had a bit of Jekyll and Hyde personality change as she was one HOT mama when she woke up. I don't think I've ever seen her that mad. But, in true Eva style, her sweetness didn't take long to come out.

As I'm typing this we're about 6 hours post-op, and I can already tell a huge difference. She's back to her old self, albeit acting a bit loopy. But, no pulling at her ears, and she seems to be hearing much better.

One kiddo down, one to go. Ethan is up for a tonsillectomy on April 29th. No, I don't enjoy torturing my children. It just happens that insurance is up for a change which meant surgeries close together.

Stay tuned... one strong-willed four-year-old + fear of the unknown=an adventure of great proportions.

3 comments:

haverlee said...

Yikes!! Glad it went well. I'm sure the worst part of all was getting up so darn early!

Heather said...

wow. hope the tubes do the trick for her. why does ethan have to get his tonsils out?

Nikki said...

Have...getting up early was definitely the worst part!

Heather...Ethan has extremely enlarged tonsils/adenoids (they practically touch in the back of his throat) which is interferring with his breathing. It causes him to snore and sound as if he's out of breath when he is stationary. His pediatrician along with the ENT felt it was time (especially since we've put it off for a while to see if they would shrink).

That's the long story ;) I'm nervous as can be since it is a more involved surgery, but am trusting him to the Lord!