Eli's surgery

Eli had surgery on Wed. morning to  remove his tonsils and adenoids.  It was a difficult morning for me,  my anxiety was heightened because of the anniversary of Laila's death being the day before.  But Eli had gotten a blessing the night before and I knew that all would go well if that was what should happen.  Perhaps I had even more anxiety because of all the stories I've heard of red heads and their stereotypes of doing worse in surgery than other people.  Also, my mom had surgery last year and didn't do well with the anesthesia so I worried that perhaps Eli had her issues with anesthesia as well.  I told the doctor and anesthesiologist that I'd really appreciate seeing Eli alive after the surgery so if they could do their best work, I'd appreciate it.  Of course it's just tonsils and as far as surgeries go, a surgery to get your tonsils out doesn't really measure on the dangerous scale.  But, SIDS isn't common either and Laila still died so you can imagine my worry.

I took pictures of Eli before surgery but of course my phone as the minimum service on it (just as we like it) so I can't get the pictures off of my phone right now.  This will have to do for now.

Here is Eli before surgery with his cool sun glasses.

Waiting for surgery

I had hoped Eli would request that Mike go back with him when they put him to sleep.  I'd heard that watching them go to sleep could be a bit unnerving and true to Eli's daddy's boy tendencies, he asked Mike to go with him.  Mike said Eli was nervous but did ok until they put the mask on him.  In Eli's own words, "It smelled disgusting!"  It made him cry and then when he tried to push the mask away they held it in place, making him even more upset.

While Mike went back with Eli, I went to the waiting room and tried not to cry.  I just felt so sad knowing that when Eli woke up he'd be in so much pain, or worse, they'd come tell me that something terrible had happened.  I reached down for my book and saw his tiny little scuffed up shoes and had to hold back the tears thinking, "What if he never gets to wear these shoes again?"  I realized that I was letting my fear over take me so I went to the bathroom and said a quick prayer and instantly felt reassured that he was being watched over and that he would be fine.

The surgeon came in about 45 minutes later and said that he was fine and we could go back to see him.  the anesthesiologist was waiting for us in the room and confirmed that at least one of the stereotypes was true and that Eli had required more anesthesia than most kids but that he did just fine.  Eli was crying of course, but we expected that.  They had to give him some medicine to put him to sleep so he could calm down and he slept for at least an hour, waking up sweaty and needing to throw up.  He didn't throw up but the nurse gave him zofran to help with the nausea.  He did a lot of rocking (his self-soothing response) and tried to eat a few Popsicles.  His surgery was at 8:15 and we left around 11.  By the time we got home he acted pretty normal--I mean, he wasn't really normal but he was walking around and talking and happy and I had to keep reminding him to lay down.  He ate a ton! of Popsicles.  The doctor had told us we might have to force liquids down him but we didn't have to force anything on him.

That night was a rough night for him though and when he woke up the next morning I could tell he was not doing well.  Mostly though, he just lounged on the couch all day and cuddled.  He took a good nap and then went to sleep early and sleep soundly until 2:00AM, ate a Popsicle, drank some water, got his medicine and went back to sleep.  This morning he is still in pain but asked to have eggs for breakfast.  I think his hardest thing about yesterday was that he was just so darn hungry and the Popsicles and Italian ice were just not cutting it for him.  He started crying at dinner time last night when he heard that his brothers had gone to the park with some friends.  He said, "Can I go to the park?"  Mike and I decided that we would let him swing (Which is all he likes to do anyway) so we drove to the park and Mike dropped me and the kids off while he ran some errands at Sam's for me.  I could tell that Eli wasn't feeling well because he seemed in a daze and could barely swing himself when he usually doesn't want my help pushing.  When I asked him if he wanted to go though, he said, "No, I like this."  So, I just pushed him while it started sprinkling on us and finally we decided to get the kids home.

He seems happier today but still clearly not himself.  One of my concerns was that when Eli gets sick he has a history of being a stinker and mean and defiant but that hasn't been the case.  I think he feels so icky that being defiant hasn't even crossed his mind.  The doctor said to plan on 10-14 days of Eli feeling this way so we still have a ways to go but all in all, he is doing well and I'm so relieved things went well.