Thursday, November 5, 2009

Recovering

Yesterday our middle son had his tonsils and adenoids removed. It was a needed surgery but that certainly didn't make him look forward to it. We tried to play up all the fun things he'd be able to do during recovery though to try to take his mind off it all & it seemed to work rather well.

We arrived at the Day Surgery Unit right on time - 8:45am. Would you like to know what time poor N8 was finally taken in to the OR? Right around 11am. The poor kid was starving. This is the boy who wakes UP hungry. Literally the first words out of his mouth every morning is, "Can I have breakfast?" It was a hard morning for him in that regard. I can't remember back to when B13 was a baby & had tubes put in if we waited two hours prior to him going in. I'm thinking we didn't. So I'm not really sure why it took so long to get him in there.

I didn't realize it would take that long & even brought J5 & B13 down with us. Hubby took the day off as well. I thought we'd be in there for no more than an 30 minutes before his surgery. Silly me! B13 and J5 did wonderfully in the waiting room without us though. J5 listened to his brother & they both just played with what they brought quietly. We had two different people come up to us throughout the morning to compliment us on their behavior. ::phew!::

Once N8 was taken in (I went with him to the OR until the gas put him to sleep), it was a rather quick surgery. I think it was less than an hour before I was able to go to him in the recovery "room" (curtained cubicle). He was out of it for a bit but you could tell when he was starting to become more aware. We headed back to the day surgery area for about another hour until we were finally released right around 2pm.

N8 was feeling so good when we left that he even refused a wheelchair and walked out. Since he was doing so well, we stopped at the local Wal-Mart to get his scripts filled and pick up a few needed groceries. Although, we left B13 in the truck with N8. No need to walk through a large store picking up all manner of flu and cold viruses.

Below are a couple of photos of him last night....


He was reveling in the attention I think. And the gifts. And the free use of B13's Nintendo DS. I think he was looking forward to that more than anything!

However, last night was very, very rough for both of us. The medicine he was given for pain at home made him ill, very ill. He threw up most of the night. I finally figured out around 4:30 this morning that the smaller dose (2.5mls) doesn't make him sick & keeps his pain under control. Although, I am typing this at 5:30 at night & it's been 8 hours since he's had any at all. He's not all that thrilled on taking it & he is labeling his pain at about a 2 on the pain scale (1=no pain up to 10= excruciating pain). I do plan to give him a smaller dose when it gets closer to bed time.

This is what he looked like just a little bit ago.....

We have our sleeper sofa pulled out with all the boys lounging on it. This is where N8 & I slept last night. Well, I should say, we attempted to sleep but we did more lounging and cleaning up more than anything.

He's staying hydrated but isn't eating much at all. Although, I'm not worried yet. As long as he drinks, he'll do okay. The eating will come. Hopefully his upset tummy will stop soon too.

4 comments:

  1. prayers for N...

    I know that I always have poor reactions to anesthesia. When I had my tonsils out (at 22, mind you) I not only reacted poorly to the anesthesia (my poor boyfriend at the time got to witness me puking as he visited me), but also to the residual blood that you do end up swallowing. It's never good in your tummy.

    I took a few days before I could eat ANYTHING...just swallowed a lot of water and juice...and some slimfast (for the nutritional value).

    N will come around quickly!

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  2. Poor N. I remember Jared getting his tonsils out. Praying for he and you the next couple of days.

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  3. Yeah, just keep pushing the fluids... Sage didn't eat for a week. But when she did, she wanted to eat nonstop! :) I hope that he continues to get better quickly. Looks like he is doing pretty well. He is a brave boy!

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  4. Can he have ice cream? My son was much younger, but I think we gave him ice cream...the good stuff, all natural Haggen Daz for some nutritional value. Cold soup, mashed potatoes(soft), and ginger ale(flat) helped too. Prayers for quick healing. :)

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