Little Sister Gets Ear Tubes In, Adenoids Out

This morning started bright and early.  OK, so not so bright since my alarm clock went off at 5:20, but definitely early!  Today Little Sister had “Ear Tubes In, Adenoids Out.”  My sweet little girl has been plagued by ear chronic ear infections for the past 4 months.  She would get an infection, take antibiotics, go for her 2 week check up, get a clean bill of health, and then 5 to 7 days later we would repeat that sequence.  At her most recent appointment with her pediatrician he gave me a coupon so that I only had to pay $25 out of pocket for her antibiotic.  When I arrived to pick it up from the pharmacy I forgot to hand over the coupon and was told I owed $69 with insurance.  YOWSERS!  The coupon brought down the price to $25.  A quick check on the prescription paper work and I found out that her antibiotic (for a 4-year-old) was $358.  You have got to be kidding me!  Little Sister had taken all the prescriptions and kept going up the chain until she reached Super Expensive Antibiotics.

We saw the chiropractor, and it was a great experience.  There is some research that shows that a chiropractor can help with ear infections.  I wanted to try the path of least resistance first, and the chiropractor just made sense to try.  But the infections continued.

We also saw the ENT who ordered a hearing test.  The tympanometry test showed that there was fluid in her ear and the hearing test showed that she had a moderate hearing loss.  The ENT ordered a sinus x-ray and that showed that she had enlarged adenoids.  The symptoms for a enlarged adenoids include:

• Bad breath – I am not sure about you, but my kids breath never really smells great.  After reading The Hunger Games Trilogy I would actually be scared if their breath smelled like roses.  😉
• Cracked lips – YES
• Dry mouth – YES
• Mouth breathing (mostly at night) – YES
• Mouth open during day (more severe obstruction) – YES
• Persistent runny nose or nasal congestion – YES
• Restlessness while sleeping – YES – sleeping with this kid is like sleeping in a blender with a blanket.
• Snoring – YES

It just made sense to consider surgery as an option.  I prepared myself by watching this Adenoidectomy Video (don’t watch if you are squeamish).  So today we went in to Scottish Rite/Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for “Ear Tubes In, Adenoids Out.”  I had to repeat that to every nurse and doctor I saw.  They truly were making sure that the correct operation was being performed.

(Side Note: If you are from Atlanta please, please, please read our Our Eyecare About Reading #Atlanta Donation #AtlBookDrive post.  There is still time to make a book donation).

We talked with Little Sister every day before today to try to prepare her.  We told her that she was going to have surgery on her ears so that she would stop having ear infections and so she could hear better.  She asked questions like “what will it look like?  will it hurt?  can I take my pink blankie?”  We avoided words like “pain” and “hurt.”  We told her the doctor was going to put a mask on her to make her go to sleep.  We read A Visit to the Sesame Street Hospital and I have to say that book is absolutely AMAZING! It prepared her for what a hospital was going to be like while using some of her favorite Sesame Street characters to make the trip be  non-scary.  This morning she was so happy and all smiles.   Really, do you see the picture at the top of the post?  Scottish Rite is amazing and totally makes a child’s hospital experience excellent.

Yes, I did feel bad that a child who was about to undergo surgery was so happy.  But I will take a happy child any day of the week!

The weirdest part of the day was just how quickly the anesthesia worked.  When time should have been standing still, it was going so fast.  I think I was in the operating room all of 5 minutes from the time it took her to say hi to the doctor, hop up on the table, grab my hand, put her mask on, answer 2 questions, fall asleep, and for me to kiss her forehead.  It was insanely quick.

Little Sister had a hard recovery at the hospital.  All she wanted to do was sleep, which I totally understand.  She wanted NOTHING to do with popsicles, gatorade, juice, or slushies in the hospital.  The head nurse had to be called in and she bartered with Little Sister.  “Two drinks of apple juice and we will take out your IV.”  Despite another bucket full of tears, it worked.  Almost 3 hours into the recovery side of things and we were on our way home with strict instructions to hydrate.  If she didn’t drink at least 8 ounces of water and urinate once in the next 6 hours we would most likely wind up in the emergency room instead of sleeping in our own beds.  Once home we let Little Sister sleep for about 45 minutes uninterrupted.  Then everyone took up some smiles and Gatorade.  We made a promise that for every drink she took that she would get a quarter.  That bribe totally worked.  We owe her 16 quarters and we have a happy, healthy, hydrated post operation little girl.  Two popsicles and 5 pancakes later…..we have a little girl who you would not guess had surgery today.  Take a peek.  The photo below is almost exactly 12 hours post operation and she didn’t take any pain medication.  In fact, despite constant pestering, she has said that she is in absolutely no pain at all.

 

We have a post-op visit with the ENT in 2 weeks and her hearing test will be repeated. At that point I will be able to conclusively decide how I feel about today’s surgery. It is scary electing to undergo anesthesia. It is also scary to work up to antibiotics that cost over $300 with no end in sight.  Parenting is the hardest thing in the world!

Thank you to everyone who listened to our story and offered advice from time to time.