Tubes In, Adenoids Out!

After 10 ear infections in 10 months, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.  This morning I took Jason in to get tubes in his ears.  I got up at 4:30am to shower and pack the car.  At 5:30am I got Jason up, changed his diaper, and we headed to the Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center.  Check in was easy and we were soon in the pre-op area meeting the nurses, anesthesiologist, and Jason's ENT doctor.  He was great about letting them listen to his chest, but very fidgety when they tried to get his pulse.  No pulse for this kid!
They gave Jason an adorable kid-sized gown and little yellow socks to wear for surgery.  I got a hideous paper uni-suit, hair net, and mask.  Awesome.

pre-op with his buddies

no idea what's about to hit him!

I went back into the operating room to hold Jason while they put the gas mask on.  Prior to this day, I had heard a few stories from other parents about how they were all choked up when their kid went in for this procedure, and I sort of scoffed inside thinking it is such a simple thing, everything will be fine.  Well, I'll be darned if I didn't get freaked out when his eyes rolled back and I passed his limp little body over to the operating table.  I didn't actually cry, but it was close!

While putting in the tubes, they found lots of thick fluid, which they removed.  The doctor assured me that we had made a very good decision to put the tubes in, and we should see a vast improvement.  In addition, the doctor took a look at Jason's adenoid while in there and determined that it should be removed.  For a child like Jason, who gets an ear infection with every cold, removal of the adenoid can apparently be beneficial.  So, out went the adenoid.  Recovery time will probably be a little longer now because of that, but it should pay off in the future.

Once Jason was in the recovery room, I came back to hold him as he woke from the anesthesia.  There were several crying fits, throwing of his body, then bouts of drooling sleep.  He again refused the clamp on his finger or toe to test his pulse, but once the anesthesiologist checked on him and determined he was good to go, we got him dressed and headed home.

the post-anesthesia stare on the way home

Tony and Abbie went to the store and picked up some soft and soothing foods before we got home, so once his appetite came around, Jason had some little bits of applesauce and eventually macaroni for lunch.  (There's ice cream for later!)  He otherwise sat in our laps watching Sesame Street and The Wiggles.

half-awake watching Elmo

Jason's coordination and balance are off today, which is a little funny to watch, like when he went to crawl and kind of crashed on his belly.  He's also sluggish and has a bit of drainage from various holes.  He is snoring very loudly, which I think is supposed to improve over several days.  His crib has a pillow and wedge under the sheet to prop him up, so I imagine sleep is going to be tough tonight.  Hopefully, he will be back to normal soon!  We'll give him ear drops for a few days and another round of antibiotics, then maybe we'll even be medicine-free for months!  Wouldn't that be great??