Under the Knife

Today Ashton and his tonsils and adenoids parted company.  And to be honest, I don't miss them at all!  His adenoids were particularly large for a squirt his size!.

So why were these guys taking a hike?  If you know us personally, you know that Ashton has been getting the "fever virus" for as long as I can remember.  Then this summer he got mono and his throat was close to swelling shut.  Thankfully were prescribed prednisone and it got things under control. We had intermittent issues after that until strep struck last month.

My oldest came down with it first.  Within 48 hours of being on antibiotics, she was functioning at 100 percent.  Ashton came down with it two days later and needed two different antibiotics and some kiddie Lortab to help him get better.  And we heard the words that we had been waiting for - "ENT appointment will be needed if this continues."  Every parent who has struggled with this type of things knows how hesitant you are for that  because of the surgery aspect, but how happy you are because it means that there is a good chance that your child will finally be treated for long standing ailments. 

Daniel took Ashton to the appointment because I could not handle hearing that we would have to wait until he had strep 5 more times.  And he's great at pushing thing through. It's a great quality to have.  But by God's grace, the doctor looked at Ashton's throat and determined that they needed to come out as soon as we could get them out.  He asked when we could get in and Daniel asked if it could be done before the new year (which saved us hundreds of dollars). My husband is so smart!

I have to admit, I was so happy to hear this and then my mom emotions mixed with my hormonal pregnancy emotions and it tore me up inside.  I put on a brave face folks, but knowing that my child would have surgery really sent me reeling.  I could not sleep last night.  I think I managed 4 hours before the alarm clock went off.  And then the tears.  Dear Lord, every thought that could go through my crazy mind did!  That's when I researched the procedure, watched a few done on YouTube and calmed down.  Granted that only lasted for about 30 minutes, and then the crazy, pregnant lady emotions did me in again!

By this morning, I was expecting myself to be a total wreck.  But again, by God's grace I was pretty darn calm.  Then only time the emotions almost caught up to me was when I handed him off to the nurse and had to smile so my little man would want to go with her.  He was so brave.  He was a bit uncertain, but he went with her to get a toy before surgery.  As I watched her walk away, I could feel the tears threatening to spill.  As she walked through the door, I turned to walk to the waiting room.  A kind volunteer looked at me and said the words that almost made me weep like a baby-"This is the hardest part.  He'll be fine back there."  I had to walk away from her.  If I said one word, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop crying and I deeply dislike crying in front of a room full of folks I don't know. 

Ashton went through surgery great. He had a tough time dealing with the pain in recovery, but once that was under control, he was brought out to us.  The poor guy was drugged and confused.  Getting his throat fixed by a doctor in the past never involved this much pain.  But he still trusted the nurses to look over him and that was amazing.  And I can't say enough for the nurses and doctors at the Easley Hospital.  They were great.

The main advice we had received told us to make sure Ashton drank as much as possible after surgery and to have him continue to do so until he's fully healed.  So far that advice has been spot on.  In the hospital, that meant giving him grape juice via a medicine dropper. He'll take anything that he considers medicine, with the exception of his current pain meds) if it's in a dropper.  The nurses were impressed but wanted to make sure he was doing well before sending him home.

Now that we are here, we have one drugged little boy.  Due to the drainage, he's almost sitting up on the couch to sleep. He's decided that cold water makes his throat better and asks for it when he is in pain.  I'm so proud of how well he's doing. 

The nurse advised us to try a half dose of his medicine, but I've decided to ignore that.  Ashton is very sensitive to pain and I'll wait a few days to lower his dose. Right now Daniel and I are taking turns to care for him. It's such a blessing to have Daniel home.  And Brenna is staying with Daniel's parent's.  They are wonderful. 

Keep our little man in your prayers.  The next few days are said to be the roughest, but Lord willing, it will not be as bad as some have experienced. I'll keep you updated in any event.

God bless.