Well, little guy had his surgery yesterday. I got up bright and early, except during the time I got up, there was still an hour before any brightness showed it's face outside. I saw a time with a 5 in front of it....shutter. Ethan and I headed out for Little Rock at 6:10 looking at an hour straight of a dark, rainy drive. He was asleep immediately after we pulled out and slept the whole way there. We arrived about 15 minutes early, got called back to pre-op, and sat for 45 minutes. Luckily, I brought a few books and toys to occupy him. 8:00 sharp, they came to take my baby away. I had hoped that they'd let me go back with him while they put him to sleep, but no such luck. Thinking that he would scream with his pudgy hands in the air reaching for me as I handed him off and they walked through the surgery room, I was surprised that it wasn't that at all. He flashed me those pearly gums, looked at the anesthesiologist and flashed his pearly gums at him, and disappeared. It was that easy. Ten minutes and $3000 later, I was called back to recovery. I was warned that he'd be mad...really mad. What they failed to tell me was that he'd be like a 20 pound newborn who couldn't hold his head up, or sit in any capacity without support. He was as mad as a hornet! And when they handed him to me, I tried to pick him up by his underarms, and he just flopped his little head back. Yeah, so that would have been a good piece of information to know ahead of time! I held him close for about 15 minutes until he was fully awake and alert. Bless his heart...when he first realized he wasn't in the place he remembered being last, his eyes got wide and he started flailing on me. That didn't last long once he realized I had him, but it broke my heart. As I held him, unfortunately memories of my own childhood cancer experience flooded my mind. Funny what the smell of hospital surgery sscents will trigger. They had put something on his ears afterwards, and it smelled exactly what I smelled one too many times in the hospital during chemo or surgery. Ick.
And that was it! Not much to it. He slept the entire hour trip home and was squealing with delight when we got home. He was happier than he's been in three months since his first infection! It was the difference of night and day...literally. I had become so stressed because our once very easy going, happy boy had turned into this clingy, fussy, irritable baby who didn't sleep well at naps and could be in a cranky mood with a drop of a hat. I'm guessing that he's pretty much been infected in one or both ears or had fluid on his ears the entire three month period and had just created this painful at times annoyance. It had worsened over time.
We're hopeful that it will cure all ear issues. There's an 85% chance of a cureall. And a 25% chance that we'll have to have tubes reinserted again. Hopefully we won't be in that category!
On a side note, my baby girl spiked a fever of 102 with a sore throat the night before Ethan's surgery. We went down yesterday back to 100.5, and then to normal with a dose of Motrin. But by afternoon, after the doctor's trip to make sure she didn't have strep, she was back up to 101, and then up to 103 before betime. Motrin would take it down, but it would spike up again after it wore off. She woke up 8 times last night. Eight. I'm e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d! Fever's back up 102 this morning before a dose of meds. This is what we have seen for two days now. She's watched more TV in the last two days than she does in two weeks.
I want my baby girl back!
But on the flipside, this is what goes on in the other end of the house! Happy baby squeals and explorations.
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