In Recovery

I mentioned a couple weeks ago how Joshua has been sick way too often this school year. Well, really since he started kindergarten, but first grade has been particularly tough. The ENT recommended we have Joshua's tonsils and adenoids removed and insert a second set of tubes in his ears. So, this past Monday was his surgery date. The surgery went very quickly -- maybe 20 minutes. He spent about another half hour in recovery before we could see him. When I walked in, he was sitting up, drinking juice and he looked great.

Here is a picture of him in recovery. He was telling us about his dream of flying up into space while he was "asleep" during surgery. He's holding up his finger with the heart rate/oxygen monitor and they let him keep the mask he used to breathe in the gas. The staff at Northwest Surgery center was wonderful with him. He wasn't the least bit nervous or scared going in and they just made it fun for him right up until he fell asleep. I was so relieved at how awesome they were with him.

It's been a pretty rough week. He's on pain meds every four hours around the clock. Nathan and I have been setting our alarms to wake up to give him meds at night too. If we miss the 4-hour mark, his pain is intolerable for him and he just cries. It's also been pretty hard to get him to drink. I know it hurts him to swallow, but it's important for him to drink to help with the healing process. We can't let the area dry out and crack. Then he'd be in even more pain and it could start bleeding, which we're trying to avoid. He's not eating much at all, which is understandable, but it's even difficult to entice him with ice cream or milkshakes.

Joshua is taking it easy on the couch with an ice pack on his cheek. Just today he's started complaining of his cheek and jaw aching.

I keep telling him once he's healed, it will all be worth it. I don't think he's buying it just yet. Poor thing -- the doctor told us his adenoids were huge, even bigger than his tonsils were. It's a wonder he could hear anything at all with all the gunk he had in his eardrums. I have a feeling once he's recovered, he's going to be a completely different child.