Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Surgery

Nathan had his tonsils taken out Monday. To say that I was uneasy about it really is an understatement. I'm not sure why, but I really felt that I was getting signs that it wasn't a good idea. First he had a low grade temp of 99.8 on Friday night. He wasn't feeling all that great that night. I figured we'd just play it by ear. Then Saturday night I looked at his throat. Sure enough he was getting white spots - again

Ok, so here's the back story since I haven't blogged in a while. On December 15th, I took Nathan to the doctor and he had strep. He had it again near New Year's Eve(ish). Then in late January or early February, he got croup. Full out croup. The barky cough, can't breathe, croup. I didn't realize a child his age would get it. I mean, I knew he could get croup, but struggling to breathe? You could hear every gasp he took. Not fun! I thought it came in a form of a bad cold for kids age. Guess not. Justin took him to the doctor, and Dr. Henry said he'd call a ENT and see if he'd like to take a look at Nathan to see if maybe he should have his tonsils removed. A week or so later I got the call. I took him to see Dr. Jensen in Sioux Falls and he decided that removing his tonsils would be the best thing for him. We were very happy to hear that.

Sunday I called the hospital because I didn't want to take Natey to Sioux Falls at 6:30am to have to turn around and come back home. I ended up speaking to Dr. Jensen. I told him that Nathan had white spots on his tonsils again. He said we'd go ahead with the surgery as long as Natey didn't take a turn for the worst. When he woke up Monday morning, his tonsils were speckled with white, but he didn't have a fever, so we went to Sioux falls.

The poor thing was nervous. I guess he felt sick in the van on the way down, but he never told us until much later. We walked in the doors at the Surgical Tower and were greeted by the woman at the desk. All of a sudden Nathan was gagging hard core. Poor little guy. He'd worked himself up so much internally that he almost threw up. Justin rushed him to the bathroom where Nathan finally calmed himself down. When they came out of the bathroom, they took us right to his room.

A nurse came in to asses him to make sure he was well enough to have surgery. He didn't have a fever and was calming down. They gave him a few gifts which seemed to make things better for him. They asked him to change in to some special pajamas and then someone would be back in the room shortly. Natey - LOVED - the pj's and really wanted to bring them home.

After he changed, Sarah came in the room. She gave him some toys to play with and showed him some pictures of what would happen to him. She was really great with him. During her schpiel the anesthesiologist came in. He was super nice too and very calming. He felt that Nathan was good to go for surgery but wanted to give him some medicine to help his nerves. As a result, it would probably take a little longer for him to wake up in recovery, but it would be helpful in the long run. Dr. Jensen also made an appearance.
(Natey, Grandma Sharelle and I made this blanket for him the day before surgery. He loves it!)

It didn't take long for him to get loopy after taking the medicine. He was watching Monsters Vs. Aliens and blurted out "HA!!! THAT'S A BOY!" For reals - I was crying laughing. It was so funny - and so random. He was totally looped. Not long after, they came and wheeled him away for surgery.Tom came and showed us to some snacks. We took them back to the room and waited. It wasn't long before the doctor came in to tell us that the surgery went well and that Natey was in recovery. We knew it would be an hour(ish) long wait, so waited we did. Justin read and I would read, almost fall asleep, text, check facebook, stand up, sit down, go to the bathroom, text, facebook, and read.

An hour passed. An hour and 15 minutes passed. I was done with everything that was keeping me occupied. I stood at the window feeling the sunshine of my face. Finally someone came from the recovery room to say that Nathan was ok, but having a hard time waking up. "He's asking for you Mom, so we'd like for you to come with us. Dad, you stay here and we'll call you with an update."

We walked quickly to where we needed to be. It felt like it took forever. The man, naturally, was much taller than I, so I had to take three steps to his one....and he was bookin' it. Seeing your child after surgery is by far the worst part. Nathan was hooked up to machines and was somewhat combative. He wanted to rub his eyes, and for whatever reason, the nurses didn't want him to. He tried to get out of the bed a couple of times. After he saw me he really wanted his dad. They needed him to eat a popsicle, and the poor thing tried. He kept dropping it everywhere. He was so, so tired. He would put it in his mouth and let go of the stick. It would fall out of his mouth onto his blankets and he wouldn't be able to find it.

Finally, after spending over 2 hours in recovery, we got to go back to the room. He was so, so happy to see Justin - and Justin was happy to see him. Natey slept again for over an hour. When he woke up enough, they gave him some medication. Half an hour later he was ready to rock and roll. He decided that that day was top 3 of him being funny. (Listen, anyone could be funny with the medication he was on!)

Poor guy threw up in the van before we even left Sioux Falls. Then he slept - again.

When he got home, he was beyond happy to find cards and balloons waiting for him. Two of his babysitters (who happen to be twin sisters) brought him over a balloon tied to M&M's. Later in the evening, Dawson and Tracy came by with some balloons, a card Dawson made in school, and a gift for him. To say that he felt special is a complete understatement. Yesterday he got a few more cards in the mail and even a $5 dollar bill from our friend Lucy. Thanks Luce!

So, thank you to all of you that facebooked me. I was calmed by every ones well wishes and wishes of encouragement. I really do have the best friends and family.

5 comments:

Frazzled Farm Wife said...

What a scarey thing to go through. Neither one of my kids have ever had to have a surgery or be hospitalized so I was spared that horror. Being a mom has got to be one of the hardest and emotionally toughest jobs! Glad to hear that he is doing well and that you handled everything ok too!

Anonymous said...

Glad he came through the whole ordeal okay.

I remember Alicia going through a surgery as a kid. The meds made her all weepy before surgery and that was so tough to watch. Thankfully she did fine as well and even ended up having her appendix taken out at the same time and we had no idea that was coming.

Hope Natey bounces back quickly!

Michele said...

Been thinking of Nathan - glad he is on the mend and that they were able to do the surgery. Hugs and kisses from Arizona! Chell

Tracy said...

Poor Natey. I am glad he's feeling better. Dawson sure misses him at school!!! He asked if TODAY was the day he'd be back. I told him he'd have to wait until AT LEAST Monday.

Just Mom said...

I'm so glad he's feeling better now. Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on Facebook.