I hope this is our one and only set of tubes.... This experience couldn't have worked out any better. Jackson was supposed to be the first surgery Friday morning. He got bumped to the 9:30 slot. The good thing about that was that he was allowed to have juice at 5:30 (to finish by 5:30). So, I got him early and gave him the juice. We had to be at the hospital at 8:00. Jackson was being a pill before we left. l think he had an upset stomach... not sure. He has been battling stomach issues these days. We did really well keeping him entertained for quite some time. We met with the registration lady. She said a nice prayer with us.... that made me feel so good. He was weighed and then they put us in a small room with a tv and bed. We met with the anesthesiologist. He checked him out to make sure he seemed healthy and made sure we didn't have any questions. The staff there was wonderful. Around 9:00, Jackson started to get restless (and hungry I suspect). He was quite fussy. I held him and sang to him. He finally fell asleep about 9:20. The doctor was running behind, so they didn't come to get him until about 9:45. At that point, Jackson was hard asleep with me laying on the bed. They scooped him up from me with one of those warm hospital blankets (those of you that have had a C-section know what I am talking about). He barely peaked his eyes open and then shut them back quite content with his warm, snuggly blanket. I think the nurse just enjoyed being able to take such a cuddly little man. I kissed the top of his head and off he went (no traumatic episode thank goodness). Apparently, he didn't wake up even once they got him in the operating room. They gave him the gas and he didn't even know what hit him. After surgery (it took about 15 minutes), I saw the staff wheeling him into recovery. The doctor came and told us that he currently has an ear infection (which just reaffirmed to me that he did need the tubes) and was full of snot. They said his adenoids are small and not a problem. Everything went really well. They took a nasal culture to make sure he doesn't have some resistant bacteria that is causing him the problems (to make sure we don't need to try a different antibiotics). I was anxious to be with him before he woke up and I could see him from a distance. The motioned for us to come on over. I could hardly wait. He was sleeping like an angel. It was nap time... so I don't think they realized that not a whole lot was going to wake him up after being up so long. At first, they said that they would let him wake up on his own - that he would wake up happier that way and that the longer he slept the better it would be. After a few minutes, they realized he wasn't waking up on his own. There was nothing wrong - he was just sleeping, all snuggled in blankets. They decided to start taking off the stickers (that were monitoring his heart rate, etc). That woke him up. I immediately scooped him up and he didn't even know that anything had happened while he slept. It was great! We gave him a couple of sips of juice and realized he was fine... then, got him dressed, gave him his milk while we walked out. Although those were the hardest 15 minutes of my life, it could not have gone any better. The staff and doctors there were really fabulous.
After all of the morning's events, we drove home while he drank his milk. We got home and I fed him a large lunch. Then, we went to pick up his medicine. When I realized that he was acting just fine, we exchanged some clothes at Belk. I decided he needed a treat, so we stopped by a local bakery and bought him a cupcake. By the time we got home, it was clear that he was tired, so I put him down for a nap. The remainder of the day he was such a delight... didn't act like a thing was wrong. In fact, he was better than he has been in a while (for that long of a period of time). I don't know if what they did gave him some immediate relief or what. He didn't seem to be in any pain. I have to give him drops in his ears three times a day. I will say that he hates that. It does seem to hurt him, but he gets over it pretty quickly. I will be happy to be done with that on Monday. Today, he has been a delight as well... just awesome. I have really enjoyed spending time with him. He was a little whiney this evening, but he didn't take a great afternoon nap, so I am sure that was the issue. It was short-lived. He has played and played and played. Thank goodness!!! We go back for a follow up on November 1st. Please pray that everything heals up well and that the tubes do their job. The pictures included are from yesterday.. the day of the surgery. As you can see... he is a HAPPY BOY!!
