The CHERISHED Life of Heather Leigh

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Owen's Adenoidectomy & Tubes

So, as many of you know, Owen has snored like an old man since birth and frequently has to go to the doctor for this cold or that one or another. At the end of last year, we were referred to an ENT. The ENT thought he might need his tonsils out and he definitely needed tubes in his ears. It turned out that he didn't need a tonsillectomy (which is pretty serious) but that an adenoidectomy would suffice (much less difficult), along with the tubes (since apparently his hearing is impaired due to the constant presence of fluid in his ears).

So, yesterday was the big day for the adenoidectomy and the tubes. We got him out of bed at 5:30 am and went to the hospital since his surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am. He was so happy to be going on "ah-cation" with mom and dad (yes, for some reason, the day before the surgery, he started thinking he was going on vacation with us, and we didn't correct him...maybe it was because Kevin had said something about taking a vacation day for the surgery).


When we got to the registration area at the hospital, he was running circles in the waiting area, VERY excited about this vacation. Then we went to pre-op. He was still pretty excited but started to get a little apprehensive about all the medical equipment and the silly gown he had to put on. He was probably wondering where in the world the doggone pool was. But, the nurse, Linda, was extremely nice and put on some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle videos for him to watch. However, I think he's scarred for life regarding vacations.

When Owen took the (and this is the technical term for it) go to sleep drug elixir (to which Linda added sugar so it wouldn't taste so icky), it was HILARIOUS watching him become "drunk". He would get this goofy slow grin on his face and his eyelids were partially closed like he was high(and they're heavy eyelids as it is) and when we asked him a question his response was extremely delayed, as if he was in slow motion. At one point, we were laughing at his goofy grin and I said, "Hmm, I've seen that same look on your dad's face once or twice before." The hospital staff thought that was pretty funny. Kevin, however, did not.

The procedure itself only took about 1/2 hour. And then it was another 45 minutes before we could go see him in the recovery room. I had been warned that he would be pretty crabby when he came to, but I thought no, way, not MY Owen. Sure enough, though, they were right. Poor guy, his lips were dry and cracked and bloody, one of his ears was bloody. He had an IV in his hand and monitors hooked up to his chest and belly. This is the saddest I think I have EVER seen him look. Even his new dalmatian Webkinz didn't do much to cheer him up.

He just wanted to go home. But, they couldn't discharge him until they saw that he was OK enough to take in liquids on his own in order to stay hydrated. During recovery, I was able to put him on my lap in a rocking chair next to his bed. I had brought along a big Dr. Seuss book - filled with a bunch of his favorite stories -including the Sneetches and Horton Hears a Who - and I read it to him cover to cover. This, did not make him HAPPY but it kept him occupied and quiet.

This is Kevin trying to make Owen laugh by showing him what his sad face looked like. Nice, dad, kick him while he's down. This did not make Owen laugh, but it made me wonder.

All in all, Owen did VERY well. The staff kept remarking on what a good patient he was. He may have been sad, but he was well-behaved. He was very happy (although it may not look like it) when they told us we could go home. We put him back in his own jammies and he was ready to go.


We were discharged around 10:15 am, and Owen fell asleep on the drive home. Then he and I slept together on the couch until 1pm. When he woke up at 1pm, he was happy as a lark, as if nothing had even happened. His energy level and happiness only grew as the day wore on. He was blessed with a get well goody bag from Grandma Carol and Grandpa Don, in which there was this puzzle that he enjoyed putting together (all by himself! He's so smart!), Nee Nee sent over a goody bag with pop-sicles and a Thomas sticker book, my parents & Aunt Dee stopped by with pop-sicles and ice cream, and my sister and her family stopped by to give hugs. Owen ate up all the attention.


I'm so proud of my little trooper.







2 comments:

Kim said...

What a little trooper!

Glad everything went well!

Kim

kid_curry said...

Poor little Owie to have a dad that can make that face. Happy everything "came out" o.k.!