Tonsils, Adenoids & Tubes

The story begins on January 16. A Wednesday. We reported to the hospital at 6 a.m. to have Will's tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes in his ears put in. The surgery went very well. Dr. Morgan said his tonsils were huge and the fluid in his ears was really thick. He anticipated that we might even notice a difference in his hearing by that evening.

Pre-surgery

Once Will was out of surgery, he was pretty miserable. He really didn't want to drink anything or have anything to do with the popsicle that we so desperately wanted him to eat. The nurse even called the doctor to see if Will should be admitted, since liquids weren't going well. Dr. Morgan assured the nurse that he would do better at home.

Post-surgery

Wheel chair ride to the car

To home we went. Will refused meds. Spit it back at us. He didn't want to drink and was not interested in popsicles, Jello, ice cream or anything else we could think of. We spent a lot of time cuddle together on the couch and Will was in and out of sleep.

Thursday, Will again refused medicine and liquids. We bribed (money, movie); we tried to force it on him (the nurse said to plug his nose and stick the syringe in his mouth). Nothing seemed to work. So, that evening we headed back to the hospital so he could be treated for dehydration. Mercy has a very nice Children's ER and while the nurse put his IV in, a Child Life Therapist came in to distract him with an iPad. He still cried, but I like to think it helped. We chilled out in the ER for a few hours watching movies and getting a few sips down, but he wasn't bouncing back like everyone had hoped, so he was admitted to the pediatric floor. We settled into the room quickly and were looking forward to some sleep. Nurses were in and out frequently and we only had one recliner for Jason and I to take turns in. Most of the night I got to curl up on the foot of Will's bed.

Daddy helping Will with a popsicle in the ER

Friday wasn't too promising either. A Child Life Specialist was in with a tub of prizes and a sticker chart. The sticker chart worked for a while, but wore off quickly. The Pediatrician was in to visit and Dr. Morgan came to check on him too. He enjoyed seeing his visitors--Grandma Lori, Grandma Jamie, and Pastor Hugh and even tossed his football around with Daddy. But, meds and liquids still weren't going down well.

Tiny is waiting with Will's stickers for his sticker chart

Will filled up a row on his sticker chart and the first prize
he chose was a football (no surprise!)

Napping again...

On our way back from a trip to the kitchen to check out the icecream

Saturday around 6 in the morning, the nurse unplugged his IV with the hopes that since he was receiving so much fluid by IV, that without IVs he would feel thirsty and want to drink...And it worked! He had a pancake, drank milk and juice. Papa Randy and Grandma Lori came down for a visit and Will enjoyed showing them the fridge full of juice, milk, popsicles and ice cream and we made it down to the playroom to check out the toys.

Turning a corner--DRINKING!

Trip to the playroom

Not sure what this expression says,
but it looks like he's feeling a little better.

Around noon Saturday, he was discharged! It felt so good to get home! Thank you everyone for your prayers!

TWO WEEKS LATER: Will is nearly back to normal. He still complains that it hurts when he coughs or has a big sneeze and there were a couple days that milk would come out of his nose when he drank. He still wakes up a few times a night and either ends up in bed with us or one of us ends up in bed with him (but that was normal from before surgery), but is now a quiet sleeper--no more snoring!