Back in October last year I took Cooper in to the ENT to get his tonsils checked out. He was snoring really loudly and when he was sick it sounded like he was definitely not taking in as much air as he should. Dr. Hamilton checked him and said that his tonsils were really large and should probably get taken out as well as his adenoids, but it wasn't a pressing thing. Since I was pregnant and knew I would be having a baby in the Spring, Jason and I decided to wait until summer break to have the surgery since our deductible would have been met for the year. (Thanks Milo!)
Fast-forward to June of this year and I realized now was the time to schedule an appointment. Cooper was sounding better at night though so I wasn't sure if he needed to go through the trauma of surgery. I put it off again. In July Jason took the boys camping and he said that Cooper's snoring kept him up that night and he stopped breathing several times. That solidified my resolve to finally schedule the surgery. The soonest they could get him in was the beginning of August. We booked it.
The Saturday before the surgery I took Cooper to the store so he could pick out some ice cream and popsicles for his recovery. He was pretty excited. The morning of his surgery I woke him up before the sun came up (we had to be at the hospital by 6:30 am). He was happy and chipper the whole time we were checking in and waiting for the surgery to begin.
They gave him a bag of goodies and he immediately started playing with the play dough.
He was one happy boy with zero fear or apprehension.
At 7:30 they had already explained everything he could expect to Cooper and I had signed all the paperwork. They were ready to wheel him to surgery. He had a moment of worry on his face but then was back to smiling with his super hero cape.
The surgery itself only took about 30 minutes. While Cooper was in another room waking up a little bit the doctor came in to talk to me. He told me everything went well. He explained that some tonsils were only on the surface and others were tucked into the throat a little like innie belly buttons. Cooper's were innies and they still protruded quite a bit. The Dr. Hamilton was shocked how large they ended up being when he cut them out. It's a good thing we decided to get them removed!
Cooper was still super sleepy when they wheeled him into me. They explained that his throat started swelling closed during recovery and so they had to give him some epinephrine. Because of that, he had a barky cough and would have to stay in the hospital for three hours after surgery to make sure he didn't swell up again.
They gave him some oxygen for a little while after surgery (see the clear tube I am holding) because his oxygen levels kept dropping a little. He was groggy but hated having it pointed directly at his face so he would bat it away. His nose also itched quite a bit and I had to keep holding his hand so he wouldn't scratch his nose off. The nurses had warned me ahead of time that he might be super angry and agitated while waking up but he wasn't at all. He just acted super sleepy. I kept asking him if he wanted some slushy to drink (one of the criteria for getting the IV out of his arm and ultimately his discharge was for him to be able to drink liquids by himself) but he refused. The nurse came in and offered him soda or juice if he would rather have those (he loves both of those things too) but he said he just wanted water. When she brought the water in and he finally drank it, so he was able to get his IV out. He had been saying it was hurting him so that was great motivation.
He slowly started waking up more and actually opening his eyes. I showed him his tonsils and asked if he would hold them for a picture. He refused. Bahaha.
But I did at least get him to smile his cute swollen-faced smile before they took them away to dispose of them.
When he was more alert the nurse asked if he wanted to play some games. He said yes and then we had the adventure of trying to figure out how they worked. We only have an old school Wii at our house so it was a learning experience for both of us. I had packed his tablet but forgot to charge it so it was completely dead. He played a few games on the Wii while it was charging and then watched a little TV. Then he was able to play his tablet until it was time to be discharged.
At 11:35 we got the okay to be discharged. The nurse asked if he would like to walk out, have his mom carrying him out (I was praying he wouldn't choose that one since I had a couple of big bags to haul out too), or if he wanted a ride in the wagon. He chose the wagon. She pulled him and his stuff all the way out to our car. He was one happy, cute boy.
They let him bring home his pillow, super hero animal blanket, a stuffed bunny, and his bag full of goodies. He was spoiled.
A few days later Cooper got a "Get Well Soon" card from the hospital with personal notes from the nurses that helped him. I wish I was recording his reaction when he realized he got mail and then what the mail was. It absolutely made his day. He kept reading it over and over again with a big grin on his face. He said he wanted to keep the card forever.
I have been a fan of the American Fork Hospital since I gave birth to Tessa there 3.5 years ago. But I am an even bigger fan now because they made what could have been such a scary day for my little boy into a exciting, happy one. They made him feel so special. And for that I will be forever grateful.
(I received similar hand-written cards from my nurses both times I gave birth at that hospital as well. So this is not an isolated occurrence. They really are that awesome.)
