Here's a summary of our day:
7 am - Erica wakes up. As instructed by the doctor, she is only allowed to have clear juices until 8:15am. She drinks a bottle of juice.
8:15 am - I keep waiting for Erica to sign "eat" or "milk" and dread the thought of having to tell her "No." Thankfully, she doesn't indicate she wants food.
10:00 am - She is acting mad and tired and hungry. I attempt to put her down for a nap early because she is going to miss her regular nap time today.
10:15 am - She is still awake, so I cuddle her in the rocking chair and sing Christmas carols. That seems to soothe her for a few minutes.
10:30 am - Troy gives Erica a blessing. We leave for the doctor. I bring a whole arsenal of items to make the 45 minute drive more bearable.
10:45 am - The arsenal is exhausted. I succomb to my strict rule of no cell phone playing and hand mine over. Amazingly, it occupies her the rest of the drive.
11:15am - We arrive at the doctor's and it is also nap time. Troy signs 1000+ papers while I try to occupy Erica. She is not happy.
12:00 pm - I give up on trying to occupy her and let her run around the surgery room in socks and a diaper. She is much happier.
12:15 pm - The doctor is not here yet and I'm trying to suppress my anger about starving my child and making her miserable to be ready at this exact time.
12:25 pm - The doctor finally shows up and answers all our questions. We still feel this is the right thing to do.
12:30 pm - I hand my child over to a complete stranger to take her off for her first surgery. Thank goodness the man has a big gray beard. For some reason, Erica loves men with beards. I don't hear her screaming as they take her away, so I am comforted a little.
12:35 pm - I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for how strong I am being about this whole situation.
12:40 pm - The doctor comes out and says she is ready. As we are walking back to the recovery room I hear Erica shrieking. As we come around the corner, I see her thrashing and screaming.
12:41 pm - I lose it. I start crying and rush to comfort Erica. She is not comforted.
12:42 pm - The annoying nurses assure me that this is a normal reaction to anesthesia. I am not comforted.
12:50 pm - We leave the doctor's office and make the 45 minute drive home. Erica is screaming and whimpering the whole way. She doesn't even want her juice. She eventually falls asleep about 20 minutes before home.
Afternoon - Erica slowly calms and regains her appetite. Otter pops were her favorite today. She clings to me for hours and fusses if I set her down.
6pm - We put drops in her ears. A little blood trickles out. I get nervous, but then I remember that they told us this could happen.
6:30pm - She is out cold.
What a day. And this was only for tubes. I can't even begin to imagine what other parents have gone through for way more serious procedures on their children. My heart goes out to you. Please share any experiences if you want.
And, I can't ever do a post without putting up pictures of Erica, so here is a comparison of how she has changed over 15 months. It doesn't even look like the same baby.
21 comments:
I'm glad you were able to get through such a tough experience. It reminded me of the many we had when Emily was in the hospital for a month when she was 2.
Despite the difficulties, I know the Lord was with us.
I also feel like the pain Emily experienced was not wasted. I don't know that she remembers the details of her ordeal because she was so young but going through difficult things courageously does make people stronger. As much as I would like to spare my daughter any grief or pain, that is not really the point of us being here.
It is very difficult to see your child thrash around and scream in the hospital. When Luke had to have his finger stitched back together he did the same thing, it was really hard for me to watch, the anesthesia made him so out of it.
Glad it's over! I hope Erica feels better real soon.
You're so tough! I'd be losing it too. Erica and you guys will be so glad to not need to deal with ear infections for the winter. Hurray!
What a long, difficult day! I hope she is recovering nicely. No matter what, just having a child go under is scary.
Know that I'm thinking of you!
Poor baby! I hope she feels better!
Hope Erica is feeling better and recovering nicely from her surgery. Both of my boys had ear tube surgery, along with tonsils and adenoids, one of them had to have it done twice! I cried at the first two, but was fine for the last one. It makes for a hard, emotional day, but you made it through!
wow! We haven't had to subject our kids to hardly any medical procedures and hopefully that trend stays (knock on wood). I hope this helps little Erica!
(ps this is Julie)
Andy says I just jinxed us by making my previous comment...
(this is still Julie)
I hear ya - i hate it when k needs shots. i can't imagine more having to come after the shots.
i hope it means a happier, healthier Erica.
and those last pictures are so cute. i love her blue blue eyes and adorable smile. wish we could see you guys more.
I went through surgery to get tubes myself. They did it at the same time as taking my tonsils out. I was 9/10 at the time and it wasn't outpatient then. I had to spend the night in the hospital. I do remember coming out from the anesthesia for just a bit while still in the operating room. I was not happy.
I'd never considered how it may have been difficult for my parents. Thanks for the point of view.
The closest I've come to having to put children through pain is with Cory twice: First, to have some teeth pulled when he was 8 (I felt horrible - they did it with only local anesthesia) and then when the dentist discovered that he had a extra front tooth that they needed to remove surgically (about 1 year later). That time we bit the bullet and paid out of pocket to knock him out (crazy insurance wouldn't cover it even though the oral surgeon said it was needed) & it was hard to see him coming out of it.
Nancy, I'm sorry you had to go through that. It made me so mad to read your post. I want to smack everyone involved in her surgery yesterday. There is no way it should have had to happen like that. I swear Arizona has the worst health care in the country..and worst customer service. I'll talk to you about it in person. Anyway, off my soap box. I sure hope she slept well last night. I hope you don't get too much ooze out of her ears. Nathan's was really bad, Hannah's just a little. I'll be thinking of you all today. Give Erica an extra big hug from me.
I'm glad she got the tubes! No more ear infections, right?
I'm so sorry you guys had to go through that...hopefully it will be worth it!! I can't imagine doing it with my guys...you are amazing! We hope she's doing great (and you too!)
As for the prayers... we are just consistent with saying them with him. We would have Weston sit on our lap (when he was about 1-2) and we would help him fold his arms. Then we would say a really short prayer so that he would get used to being quiet for them-But it was within his ability to do so. (Seriously short: Dear HF, thank you for this day, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.) There are lots of times when he's not, though! But he is a lot better now and he really likes when we let him try to say one. ( I know she's not that old yet) She'll catch on, though, just by watching you...praying feels good and kids respond to that, I think. If we ever miss a meal prayer, Weston reminds us now. So cool!
Hope this helps?!
yuck, no fun. I have been through 4 outpatient surgeries now with 2 of my kids. So not fun. It is so hard to make these decisions about our kids. Good for you for being so brave!
Hope Erica's feeling better.
that would be so scary! i'm glad she's doing well though now, hopefully it helps!
We LOVE having you guys next door. Sydney can't get enough of little Erica. God blessed us both with beautiful, loving children. I hope we have many years together - watching them grow into wonderful people. Glad everything went well with the tubes.
So glad to hear that the surgery was successful! When you have a chance we need your address so we can send you a christmas card:)
Wow, she really does not look like her newborn self at all! It really is so hard to see your child scared and miserable. I hope that the tubes solve her ear problems! I love how we moms get mad at doctors for things they never would imagine (being 15 minutes late or telling us that thrashing is normal and not to worry). Those things are annoying!
I know how hard it is to watch your little one hurting. I hope she feels better
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