Surgical success

Last Friday Parker had his tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy.  We arrived at 7 a.m. and were getting back in our car to go home by 8:20.  Seriously.

The doctor said his tonsils were “very large” and he said it in a way that seemed to say “his tonsils were about a week away from joining the circus.”  The adenoids were not as abnormally sized, but they are gone now too. 

He was understandably groggy in recovery and very upset.  He just wanted to “go home.”  We got him home and he wanted to go to his bed.  After a brief stop to vomit on the way up the stairs, he was asleep in his bed the moment his head hit the pillow.  He woke up happy when he realized his grandparents were at the house and bearing gifts. 

Anyway, since then, he’s done remarkably well.  He is obviously in pain when his medicine starts to wear off, but when he’s “under the influence” he is happy and playful.  The worst things have involved the medicine he is prescribed.  The narcotic painkiller he was prescribed (Lortab) he cannot stand.  I think it stings his raw throat, but he hates it with a fiery passion.  I’ve all but stopped giving it to him and we just go with Advil every six hours.  But on times like tonight when he was in significant pain and had an hour to go before his next Advil dose, I had to talk him into the Lortab mixed in with a serving of applesauce. 

The other difficulty has been the Prednisone (steroid) he was prescribed.  We are almost on our fifth and final day and I’m so happy.  Steroids always make my children a little crazy.  For Parker, it seems to make him prone to fits of absolute anger – also known as “’roid rage.”  Today when I made him go to his room for quiet time, he was fine for about 15 minutes.  But when he decided he wanted to come out, he started banging on and kicking the door and screaming “I HATE YOU MOMMY!” or “I DON’T LOVE YOU!”  I felt like he was a 16-year old girl who had just been put on restriction for the night of the big party.  Wow.

Then he started the same high-pitched wine he has been doing when he is really hurting.  Poor fella.  Again, he was about an hour from his next dose (of Advil). 

Mornings are the worst for him.  He usually is past due for medicine, so he is in pain and hungry.  Not a good combination because he cannot eat until he’s not in pain.  So here’s the breakfast of champions around our house:

A popsicle in his hand and a drink close by.  And actually, the goldfish graham crackers are a new addition…it’s his first “crunchy” food and he started with those last night.  Progress.

That is a smiley face (for the camera), believe it or not.

We were told to expect that days 3-5 could be the worst, but so far (knock on wood), it’s been okay.  I feared that it would have been so much worse to this point, so I’m relieved that he’s done so well. 

When he is feeling bad, he asks when the doctor is going to put his tonsils back in, and that is so sad (as if it’s going to make him better), but honestly he has been feeling okay far more than he has been in pain.  We are thankful for the prayers that have helped us arrive at this point, and we hope and pray that his recovery will continue along this same path!

The doctor said we need to try to keep him quiet and not do too much for two weeks.  I’m not sure if that’s going to happen considering how stir crazy he already is, but we’re going to do our best!