Showing posts with label preschoolers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preschoolers. Show all posts
Monday, September 5, 2011
Georgetown, Here We Come!
8:00 AM | Posted by
Heidi-rose |
This is part of a series. You can find parts 1 & 2 on this blog.
Georgetown, Here We Come!
No I did not say that because I’m on my way to go shopping or check out the nightlife, though it was still dark out as we arrived into Georgetown. I’m saying that because Georgetown University Hospital is where we went to have DD’s tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, and tubes placed in her ears. Yeah, that is a mouthful, quite literally! The last time I remember being up at 3:30 in the morning I was not getting up off the pillow, I was laying my head down on the pillow. Sadly, I was not just coming in the door from being in Georgetown; my being up late did however involve my DD and a feeding. But, here we were three years later and heading to something life changing for her.
We got to the hospital and DD was wonderful, she hardly minded the extended wait we had in the waiting area before going back to the pre-surgery area. I tried to remain strong and remind myself not to cry, inside my head I kept saying, “Don’t cry Traci, and don’t let her see you cry!” Yeah, that didn’t work. The Anesthesiologist came in to explain once again what would happen in the OR when we got in there and even though I had read about it and heard it all before (from the nurse and friends whose children went through the same procedure), I still choked up and out came the tears. The time finally came for them to wheel her down to the OR and she started to cry. In the back of my head I knew this was a good thing since it would help get the gas into her quicker if her lungs were open but, it still hurt to see her so scared.
We rolled into the OR and I helped them get her situated and told her to just close her eyes and go to sleep. I told her I loved her and that she was going to have sweet dreams and I couldn’t wait to hear about them. It took about a minute and a half and she was fully asleep. Her ENT walked me back to the pediatric pre-surgery area and asked if I had any more questions. At that point even if I did I don’t think I could really think straight enough to vocalize them. I went back into her room and the wait began for us. We were told the surgery would take about an hour and a half, and it did, at exactly an hour and a half later her doctor was back in her room telling us she was in recovery and we would be able to go back and see her shortly.
We were informed by her ENT that her tonsils were big, her adenoids were HUGE, and there was A LOOOOOOOT of fluid in her ears; so much that we were given ear drops to ward off infection. Before he even finished going over the surgery with us and her recovery process at home, they were calling from recovery for me to go and be with her. Her nurse walked me back to her in recovery and she saw me and started crying. The last time I heard her cough like that was when she had bronchitis. Lucky for us she loved the popsicles and apple juice and keeping her throat moist helped to keep that cough at bay. We were told the more she had of the two the quicker she would go home, luckily she understood that and before we knew it, we were on our way back home.
How is she doing so far? VERY WELL!!! It has been a week and a few days and we can already tell she is hearing things she may have never heard completely before. She is covering her ears at high pitched sounds, and you can understand more of what she is saying (fewer mumbled conversations). BUT, the big thing to check is the low tones and how she is hearing them. Time will only tell right now and we have an appointment coming up soon. Once I know more, I promise to share!
Georgetown, Here We Come!
No I did not say that because I’m on my way to go shopping or check out the nightlife, though it was still dark out as we arrived into Georgetown. I’m saying that because Georgetown University Hospital is where we went to have DD’s tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, and tubes placed in her ears. Yeah, that is a mouthful, quite literally! The last time I remember being up at 3:30 in the morning I was not getting up off the pillow, I was laying my head down on the pillow. Sadly, I was not just coming in the door from being in Georgetown; my being up late did however involve my DD and a feeding. But, here we were three years later and heading to something life changing for her.
We got to the hospital and DD was wonderful, she hardly minded the extended wait we had in the waiting area before going back to the pre-surgery area. I tried to remain strong and remind myself not to cry, inside my head I kept saying, “Don’t cry Traci, and don’t let her see you cry!” Yeah, that didn’t work. The Anesthesiologist came in to explain once again what would happen in the OR when we got in there and even though I had read about it and heard it all before (from the nurse and friends whose children went through the same procedure), I still choked up and out came the tears. The time finally came for them to wheel her down to the OR and she started to cry. In the back of my head I knew this was a good thing since it would help get the gas into her quicker if her lungs were open but, it still hurt to see her so scared.
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| Photo Credit: ReSurge International |
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| Photo Credit: babe_kl |
How is she doing so far? VERY WELL!!! It has been a week and a few days and we can already tell she is hearing things she may have never heard completely before. She is covering her ears at high pitched sounds, and you can understand more of what she is saying (fewer mumbled conversations). BUT, the big thing to check is the low tones and how she is hearing them. Time will only tell right now and we have an appointment coming up soon. Once I know more, I promise to share!
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
What did you say? Huh?
What Did You Say? Huh?
That is exactly what I said to my DD’s Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist (ENT) when he told me that she needed to have tubes placed in her ears, and have her tonsils and adenoids out. As some of you remember a few months ago I wrote about how I decided not to be a wallflower and pass up her forever lingering cough in the evening (bedtime/naptime) as allergies.
We went to see an ENT and he performed a whole work up and scheduled another appointment to come and see him in a month to go over his findings. I knew before we left his office that he would be more than likely placing tubes in her ears since she was hearing at a 45 (meaning she had 45% hearing out of 100%). We also left knowing it was more than likely that her Eustachian tubes were being blocked by her adenoids and that they would be removed. When I heard him say that the tonsils were coming out too I did worry a bit. I had been doing some research and realized that the tonsils were very beneficial in helping to protect from infection and bacteria. Once I spoke more with her doctor he assured me that while that is true in young infants, that a child at her age (who also is in daycare and building immunity there) has built up her immunity and to not worry as much. He mentioned how her tonsils were “a tad” large and that they were a bit inflamed, so removing them would benefit her. Her doctor also mentioned that he could leave them in but that he would feel pretty awful in a few years time if we were right back where we were right then and there discussing moving her tonsils because we didn’t remove them when she was three.
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| Photo Credit: Daniel Morris |
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| Photo Credit: mitopencourseware |
The planning quickly began and the next few weeks went by so quickly with planning and preparatory appointments to get everything into place for her surgery. Note to all who are about to go through this same surgery with their little ones or take them in general to give blood, watch how tightly you hold your child’s arm. Yes, due to yours truly, my daughter had to be stuck twice with a needle. I held her arm so tight the first go of it that I cut off the circulation and they needed to move to her other arm to get the blood they needed. Another note, Rita’s appears to erase that error if you so do make it as well. Other than the blood draw appointment, all other appointments leading up to the surgery went well. Before we knew it, it was surgery day and thanks to “Curious George Goes To The Hospital,” and many discussions, my daughter was as prepared as we could get her for the surgery.
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