Ta-Ta Tonsils

Wild Thing had his tonsils and adenoids out this week. He was and is such a good patient. I am so proud of him. We went in to the day surgery center at 8:00 on Wednesday morning. We filled out a bunch of paperwork, and WT answered all the doctors' and nurses' questions. They tried to con him into accepting the IV without being sedated first, but he would have none of that. The staff let me gown up and follow WT into the operating room. I stayed with him, as he held the mask over his nose, until he fell asleep. There is something primordially frightening about watching your child's eyes roll back into his head.

I went back out into the waiting room and had a cup of coffee. Dr. B returned about 30 minutes later to tell me he was done. He had planned to remove both the tonsils and the adenoids, and he did. WT had one tonsil that was visibly swollen for several months; it did not respond to antibiotics or allergy medicines. Dr. B reported that the other tonsil was equally swollen but had grown inside, between the throat and the neck. Apparently, WT's adenoids were swollen and infected, too. We had no way of knowing what was going on with those, but WT had been complaining of congestion and a phlegmy throat for months. We sure hope the surgery helps clear those problems.

WT came out of the anesthesia gradually. It was heartbreaking watching him slumber in pain. The contorted face, the grimaces, him clutching his stuffed puppy the whole time. I had a strong sense of deja vu: it was 7 years almost to the day that we brought this child home from the hospital. WT was born prematurely and spent 65 days in the NICU with a dizzying array of medical problems. I remember spending day after day at this tiny baby's bedside, singing to him, holding him, reading to him, praying to every ethereal being that this child would live and be well. There I sat, at his bedside once again, praying that he would be well after feeling so poorly for months. A few tears fell on his blanket, but thankfully, he never knew.

Once he was a little more conscious, WT started asking to go home ... repeatedly. I was patient and kept telling him, "A little while longer." He asked to sit up, then he started to retch. The nurse managed to move the puppy out of the way the first time, but our luck didn't hold. No sooner did I return the puppy to WT's hands than he vomited the bloody contents of his little stomach into the emesis basin, nailing me, the puppy, the bedding and the wall in the process. The nurse and I cleaned him and his things up. He vomited again but was feeling better. It was nearly time to go home. The nurse tried calling his prescriptions into the pharmacy, but, of course, it's phone was busy. WineGuy, who had taken the morning off, picked up the slips and filled the scrips at the pharmacy before we got home. We finally left the surgery center and arrived home about 3.5 hours after we started.

Wild Thing has been resting comfortably during the daytime. He and his brothers have been watching the dozens of DVDs we checked out of the library on Tuesday. Nighttime has been a nightmare, though. The first night, WT woke up at 1:00 a.m. howling hysterically in pain. He wouldn't drink or take the pain medicine. He finally calmed down enough to get the pain meds down. It was watching "The Jetsons" that settled him. Last night, he woke up at 4:00 a.m., in pain but a little less hysterical. WT was good about taking his medicine right away so he could watch an old "Jonny Quest" cartoon for a while. WT has been such a good boy through all this, thanking his brothers and us for helping him. I am so proud of my Wild Thing.

Can't say as much for Wizard and Moose, who have been bickering constantly. Wizard will help only when he stands to benefit. Moose won't help at all unless bribed. They are exhausting me, esp. Wizard who clearly remembers having his tonsils out 4 years ago. I wish he were more empathetic and less bossy. Moose will learn, probably the hard way.

Wine Guy is on-call this weekend, so it's going to be endless. We may let them zone out in front of the TV just to get some peace and quiet.

G-d bless my Wild Thing. He has changed my world immensely.