Tonsils Trauma

This all from my point of view.

On Thursday morning I brought Red Fish in to have her tonsils and adenoids removed along with getting some webbing under her tongue clipped. I should post a video I took of her snoring before the operation. It's quite impressive. She also had a little sleep apnea going on and of course the apraxia. There were infinite reasons to have those babies removed. Normally, tonsils is an outpatient surgery. You spend three hours in the hospital and go home. Red Fish is only two years old, so the ENT wanted to keep her through the night for observation and send us home in the morning. Unfortunately Red Fish had a hard time getting any fluids and very little food down after the surgery and couldn't meet the requirements for being released. She had to stay on an IV in the hospital for 4 days and 3 nights. It was miserable.

Day one- we checked in fine. Everything was going well. I was a little nervous about the surgery so I ended up calling my Mom to come sit with me in the hospital. My mother in law took care of New Fish. They gave Red Fish an anti-anxiety drug before they took her back and she was a little loopy. She just waved at me from her wagon as they rolled her down the hall and said " Bye Mommy." She wasn't scared at all. After she woke up she was still pretty worn out and obviously her throat hurt but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. We watched movies and Grandpa and my Aunt and Uncle visited her. By evening she was sitting up, talking, eating a little and watching a movie. I thought everything had gone so well I could hardly believe it. Two Fish brought New Fish to the hospital and Red Fish was thrilled. The girls were in the hospital bed together giggling.

The first night was a little like sleeping in the middle of a busy intersection. The armchair/cot was hard and the hospital in Post Op is NOISY. There are alarms that go off everytime Red Fish moves or rolls over and pinches a cord. It's annoying but I figured we would be going home about 7:00 am so it wasn't a big deal.

Day two- she ate a little yogurt but would have nothing to do with liquid anything. No drinks, popsicles, ice cream, slushees, nada. My daughter has an iron will and when she doesn't feel good- it does not matter what I do to try and fix it. She cannot be reasoned with. She cannot be bribed or tricked. She cannot be threatened or forced. She is stubborn on a normal day and waking up with organs missing and a sore throat did not sit well with her. We spent most of the day watching movies together and rocking in the rocking chair. Grandpa tried to bring her a BLUE drink to see if that would help but she refused. Red Fish would scream if I left the room to go to the bathroom. We tried everything we could think to help her drink but by the late afternoon we had to check into a normal hospital room in the post surgical wing. My Mom stayed with Red Fish so I could go home and take a shower.

I went home feeling really low. It was a rough day. But then I went home to my sweet Bubs. She is in a phase of the sweetest bitty baby exploding with personality that is so sweet, I want to squeeze it out of her and bottle it. She obliged me with plenty of hugs and kisses and some good baby snuggles. Then I brought her back to the hospital and she entertained everyone with her grins. Red Fish was really bummed when New Fish didn't make it to the hospital on Friday. When I came back after going home for a couple hours I was feeling completely better about things and like a new person.

Red Fish drank a glass of milk right before bedtime and I was so stoked to go home in the morning. Unfortunately Red Fish spit out all of her meds all night long so she had no pain meds in her system.

Day three- was just ugly. It has got to be my one of my all time mommy lows. Watching your little girl go through something like that and not having any control is AWFUL. Red Fish was in pain and she was either screaming or sleeping all day. They couldn't get any meds into her so they finally put some in her IV. It made a HUGE difference. She calmed down and I could take care of her again. I did everything I could think of to comfort her. My brother M (Uncle Doo) and his wife M.E. came to visit and coaxed Red Fish into eating some spaghetti. Two Fish came and layed next to Red Fish for hours. We actually got her out of the room and she did some painting.

The times I got worn out from the screaming or whining or just tired of being at the hospital, I got a definite wake up call. Some poor bald child covered in tubes and wires would get rolled down the hall and I would feel guilty for not counting my many many blessings. I can't imagine having to spend the majority of my time in those rooms and hallways. The staff there is AMAZING. They take such great care of the kids but it is still a place of heartbreak. Those extra deep worry lines in the parents faces. The looks of sympathy and understanding you see passed between parents and patients in the playroom. The sound of wagons and alarms moving down the hall. The dimmed rooms and hushed voices just make my heart ache.

Day four- The doctor told us that technically Red Fish needed to stay another night but that he would trust my motherly instincts. I didn't think Red Fish was in pain anymore and I thought she would do much better at home in her own surroundings. So they let us pack up and go home. Since we got home Red Fish has done wonderfully. She is eating, drinking and taking her meds like it is no big deal. She is running around and back to her normal self.

So the good news- Red FIsh is already making speech progress even though she is still all swollen and chipmunk-like. I got to be with her the whole time and she doesn't seem to traumatized by being in the hospital although she is happy to be home. She had visitors. My Aunt works in the Children's hospital we are at so she has pulled some strings for us and improved our stay.

The best news- we weren't in the hospital for any terrible reason. We were just kind of waiting to go home (except for day 3 which makes me sympathize for parents of patients forever.)

The bad news- we have to go back on Friday for another weekend in the hospital. Red Fish has a bunch of tests scheduled to try and help with her apraxia. At least we can just hopefully get this all behind us!