More Medical Mishaps

Poor Baby.

Today he had his 3rd (count 'em...3!) set of tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed. He has a long, sad history of ear infections, so we are no strangers to the world of pediatric surgery. Taking out his adenoids was a last resort, but with 2 infections in less than a month, we knew it had to be done.

I got up at 5 a.m., made myself presentable, woke Baby up and arrived at the surgery center by 6:30. Hubby stayed home to take care of Goliath and Little Middle. Baby was SO good and sweet. He never asked for anything to eat or drink (forbidden before the procedure) or complained about being out and about so early in the morning. Once we were checked in and moved to a pre-op room, the World's Friendliest Nurse came by with a godsend: a portable DVD player and a stack of movies. Wanna guess what Baby picked?

Hola! Soy Dora. I am the most cheerfully annoying, yet captivating, animated creature the 3-and-under crowd has ever known!

Seriously. It was the best thing that could have happened this morning. He sat in a little chair and never took his eyes off the screen. Nurses came in and out, took his vital signs, asked me questions, even gave him nose spray. He barely moved. When it came time for him to go to the OR, the nurse simply scooped him up in one arm, carried DVR Dora in the other, and my son didn't look back.

Surgery took only about 20 minutes. Turns out that was the easy part. The hard part came in the recovery room. Poor little guy. He was confused and I could tell he was hurting. He was kicking hard, trying to dislodge the IV from his foot. He slept for a couple of minutes, then woke up screaming. By the time it was all said and done, he was crying, I was crying, and I'm surprised the nurse (who was expecting her first child...a boy) was not crying. Baby refused to take even a sip of juice, and he had nothing but distaste for a popsicle. The rule is that the child has to be fully hydrated before they can be released to go home. After enough screaming and carrying on, the tired nurse finally just let us go. Baby stopped crying the minute we walked out into the sunshine.

He and I took a nap when we got home whie Daddy ran to the pharmacy and filled the prescriptions. Baby is on strong pain meds! We will lay low for the weekend and hopefully he will be feeling much better soon.

In other medical news, I am facing another surgery of my own. If you've been reading this for any length of time, you know what I've been through, and you also know I can't make this stuff up! :) The initial pain I had that sent me to the ER back in the summer--the visit that started the whole cancer thing--turned out to be a gallbladder attack. I have had several attacks since then, so it must come out. I have been assured that even if things go awry, the surgery (and recovery time) will be nothing like what I went through a few months ago.

Goliath is going to the eye doctor for the first time tomorrow. No worries, really...just given his mama's eyesight, we'd like to be cautious.

And, last but not least, Abby Dog seems to have sprained her ankle. Do dogs have ankles? Pinched a nerve. Something. She is limping and I am sad. Hubs (aka the Dog Whisperer) is positive there is nothing broken, nothing that a little rest and lots of Scooby Snacks can't fix.

I'm off to administer medication and watch Dora reruns.