Zayden had out patient surgery to have a set of ear tubes put in and have his adenoids removed. The night before his surgery, as I was prepping his bag, he told me he was actually nervous. He and I sat down and took time to pray over all his feelings, everything that was scheduled, and what we would like to be the outcome. Monday morning Grandma Cindy came to watch the other children so that Mike and I could both go along with Zayden.
He had new Batman PJs from Nannie to wear and we were early enough to pause and pray again together in the parking lot before we went in.
Zayden was on no food/drink orders after midnight and he didn't check in until 9. After we checked in we waited and Daddy read to him.
Then they took us back and got us settled in a room. He changed, did all his pre-op vitals, and got settled in to wait some more.
He was allowed to bring a lovey and blanket and was so pleased to have a new Harry Potter blanket from Aunt Lauren's family. The nurse asked him all about it.
And....we waited. I could see his nerves grow but Daddy just kept reading.
Anesthesia came in and we realized he'd be intubated. That increased my nerves quite a bit.
We waited for quite awhile for him to go back, but finally it was his turn at around 10:20. He kept telling me he was hungry. After they took him, it was right at a half hour when the ENT came in to give us report. The surgery went very well. The adenoids weren't as big as the ENT had expected and he suspects that Zayden has eustachian tube disfunction. In the future he thinks he maybe be a candidate for a ballooning procedure that helps healthy tube tissue grow, but it's only being done on adults right now. The nurses had told us that after the ENT came in to give report, it would be 5-20 minutes after that and they'd bring him back us. Never give me a timeline. We waited and waited and waited. 30 minutes. 40 minutes. 45 minutes. It was almost an hour before we got him back and he came in sobbing. I told Mike when we were waiting that this is actually when I struggle. Is he having trouble medically? Emotionally? Is he being really good so they are helping someone else and he's just sitting there wondering where his mommy is? Something hospitals and I will NEVER agree on is the unnecessary separation of parents and their children. I get that I can't go to surgery with him. But I'll never agree that he's better off coming out of anesthesia without me. These are the reasons that it's so very difficult for me to agree to any surgery or procedure for our children.
He calmed down quickly once he saw us and we had him. As one nurse (post-op) was giving report to the other (discharge) she said "he had trouble coming out of sedation. Again, talk to me. What does that mean? Better yet, come get me. I am strong and can help calm him. Sigh. They offered him many drinks, but he wanted the Fruitly I had brought him and drank it quickly. I thought they'd offer a popsicle or something to soothe his throat from intubation, or a cracker to settle his stomach from the medication, but no one ever did, so I got out the sucker I'd brought and he was excited for it.
We got him dressed and discharged, and Daddy carried him out to the bus. We were prepared to go home but he wanted food. A treat and meat he said. HA! I drove by the Dutch bakery and there was no line so I went in and got several things. He ate a dozen donut holes. I tried to get him some "actual" food (is fast food real food?) even though they'd cautioned me to not feed him all day (Beeler babies don't like empty stomachs - Mia wanted a PB&J right after her kidney/bladder surgery and we took the girls to IHOP after their tubes because they were so hungry and we were so far from home). He wanted chicken strips but the Dairy Queen was closed completely. I doubled back and went to McDonald's - the drive through line was to the street and the lobby was closed. Ahh. I decided by the time we waited in the line we could be in our hometown, so while I drove Mike ordered Wendy's on my phone and I went in to pick it up. He ate 10 nuggets and fries. And felt so much better.
I had him change and lay down on my bed for a rest and he slept a good couple of hours. He was ready to do something when he woke up but I didn't just want him to run about so I got him out a new Lego set I'd tucked away.
All assembled! Mike sat with him on our bed and worked remotely while Zayden put together the Legos.
Our friends, the Chilcotes, had offered to bring us supper, and I was glad we had accepted. I had gotten up at 4:30 battling anxiety about the day and laid down to rest while Zayden and Dad did Legos, knowing that supper was coming and I didn't have to plan it. Zayden gave their pie two big thumbs up (but also ate a big plate of mashed potatoes, sloppy joe meat, and green beans).
Overall the day was fine. I don't mean to sound ungrateful because I know how hard nurses work and it's not their fault that policies are in place. I also know I've heard how much easier it is not to have parents around and I'd just like to say that easier isn't always better. We are grateful to the staff we encountered - everyone was very kind and we're prayerful they were good to our boy when he was out of our hands. Trust is a hard thing to give. Our goals for the surgery are to keep fluid off his ears and restore his hearing. We're also hoping it'll relieve his constant throat clearing and nose sniffing and would love to see him come off the medicine he's on. Time will tell. Our God is big.
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