Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Things went well today.

So we got up at and left the house this morning at 4:30am. Nana came over to bring Andrew to school so that we could leave for the hospital. We got there about 6:45 for registration. Matthew was still very tired so he was quiet. The staff moved him in quickly since he was not able to eat or drink before surgery. He was excited to play with all the toys, games and coloring books and markers they had for him to use. He was really great about all the nurses and doctors buzzing around. I think it helped to have him exposed to hospitals and doctors with Andrew while he was in St. Louis. He was not nervous at all. I also think that since this was a breeze surgery compared the Andrew's SDR, that we were not giving off any nervous vibes. Although we knew that having his adenoids out was easy, we have no idea what to expect from him having tonsils out. Dr. Hubbell told us what to expect and how he may react after surgery and during recovery. He went in for his surgery at 7:40am and they had to really increase the anesthetic to get him to give in. He drifted off easily without a wimper. at 8:15, the Dr came and told us that Matthew's Tonsils and Adenoids were huge and that knowing how large they were that he believes this will be a great help to matthew's health by having them out. Less Sinus problems, easing the apnea (hopefully) and maybe altering his behaviors for the better since he will be much more rested. He explained something about people that have breathing issues can become irritable over a long period of time and eventually it catches up with you causing moodiness and eventually cognitive problems down the road if not addressed early. It's been known that breathing problems do something to the oxygen makeup in the body and can alter behaviors... so sometimes children that have these problems fixed early can stop those behaviors before they get out of control. We've all known that Matthew is a little devil child but lately he has been just unreal. Seems like it was within the time he started preschool. We just assume it is a preschool thing, but after hearing what the dr told us we all seem to think that it is a chain reaction to things.

So after he came into recovery we waited about 15 minutes for him to weak up. He just suddenly sat up and said "Where's my chocolate Ice cream?" LOL. So the nurse got it for him along with some juice. After about 5 bites of ice cream and a few sips of juice, he said his tummy hurt and he threw it all up. Right after he fell asleep for about 4 hours. They let him sleep until the extra Phetenol wore off and gave him some Zofran for nausea. By about noon they said if he didnt wake up that they would give him something to counteract the Phetenol. About 12:15 he just jumped up again and said all wide eyed and smiling "I feel better... who took my chocolate ice cream?" We immediately knew he was snapping out of it. I went to the gift shop and got him some balloons and stuff and by the time I came back, they were ready to release him! So we left there at about 1pm.

The trip home was interesting. There are very high winds and we knew the ferry ride home was going to be a trip and a half. We ran into the mall food court quick to grab some lunch for the road and of course there was a Dunkin Donuts there. Matthew decided that he wanted chocolate donut holes. So we said yes. We figured if he wants to eat it, he can have it. Dr said that ANY food or drink was fine until he could get back to a regular diet in about a week. He said the first day would be the easiest.
Then we had to take some photos and video that I will try to post later of the Extrememly HIGH waves on the lake while we were on the ferry home. It was the biggest waves I have ever seen on the lake... that I remember. Matthew loved it. We thought for sure he would throw up. He held tight to his donuts and kept saying he would save them for later. He didnt even try to eat them.

We got home safe and sound and rented a few movies for him to watch while he rested.
About 20 minutes after being home he decided he wanted something to eat and tried to eat a donut hole.... he realized quickly that he was going to be in pain when he ate. We realized that the lidocane that they put in the surgery site was probably worn off. So we decided to give him his first AWFUL dose of tylenol codene. YUK. But he did swallow it. After about 20 min. of that he decided to give eating a try again. He ate an ice cream cup and a half container of pudding snack pack and decided to give the donuts a whirl again... It worked this time! He gobbled down 5 donut holes no problem... Hopefully he can keep up the eating and get well fast.

So in all, it was such a smooth day. Except for the nauseating ferry rides and waiting for him to wake up in the PACU for 4 hours. We were thinking that they were going to have to admit him but luckily he snapped out of it. We were exhausted from having to get up so early.

Hopefully we can all get to bed early tonight and maybe tomorrow wont be that bad for Matthew like they say. They say the first few days are good then it goes downhill before it gets better. Wish us luck and wish him well.

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