Tonsils and Adenoids and Ear Tubes.....oh my!

Well, I have a blog post all ready with all the details of Kienna's surgery, but I'm SO sick of complaining and SO sick of worrying that I really don't feel like posting another long narrative of it all. I do, however, want to have it all written down so that I can have it in our family history. I promise, however, that there will be lots of pictures and that I will no longer complain when children are in good health. I realize that my kids have really had it quite easy in the health department. Tonsils and Adenoids are pretty run of the mill, and I feel extraordinarily blessed because of that. That being said, here is my previously written blog:

Boy, has it ever been a long week. My poor little Kienna had her tonsils, adenoids and ear tubes all removed. I feel so blessed with how peaceful I felt during the surgery and with how happy and cheerful she was right afterwards. She actually tried to run from the car into the house when we got home from the hospital.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

The night before surgery, Kienna ran upstairs with a little flower. She was finally feeling better after swine flu and ear infections had left her body. She held the flower out to me and said,

"Mom, this is for you... Thank you for all the times that you yelled at me!" Then whispering she said, "It's actually because you love me, but that's just not as funny...."

Jarett had watched Barbie Rapunzel with her that day and as Rapunzel and the Prince get married, Kienna observed, "As if you would ever invite a dragon to your wedding!" You know, because that is the least realistic part of the movie.....

Anyway, she was finally feeling good and being her normal funny happy self. That night she went to sleep and got ready to go to the hospital in the morning. She was so good and patient about not being able to eat or anything.

We went back to get into surgical clothes around 9:30 and then asked to wait for about an hour or so until they were ready to take us back. She looked so cute in her surgical clothes.

We were taken back around 10:30 to talk to the anesthesiologist and then be ushered back for surgery. The anesthesiologist found out about our families history of Malignant Hyperthermia and postponed the surgery while he cleaned out a machine so that it didn't have anything in it that would cause a reaction. We waited for another hour and a half while they took the boy behind us for his tonsils first. She was SO good and patient. We read Farmer Boy (of the Little House on the Prairie series) while we waited and had some awesome bonding time. Kienna looked out of the window a lot, too. It was neat to see all the things that happen in a hospital.

For any of you who have had your child knocked out while in your arms, you'll know what a weird sensation that is. She was on my lap while they put the IV in behind my back. He was talking to her about giraffes and how they have blue tongues that can lick their ears. She was trying to lick her own ears when he suddenly said, "1....2.... and 3" and then she fell forward, completely limp. So crazy how quickly it happens and how effective medicine is. They then ushered me out of the room saying to come back in about 45 minutes. That was SUCH a strange and helpless feeling. My little baby girl on the bed, completely asleep - and I have to leave and come back when she wakes up with no tonsils.

I grabbed a quick lunch and read a book while I waited. I couldn't believe the peace I felt. I guess that I knew she was in good hands, but I was much more nervous the night before than I was during the surgery. The spirit must have been comforting me. I just couldn't focus on the surgery and it was very helpful. After 45 minutes, I was back and waited for another 45 minutes before they said I could come back. That scared me. What took an hour and a half in surgery? I found out afterwards that her adenoids were so big that they had to take those out as well (they had told me this was a possibility before....they didn't just do it without telling me). Then they waited for her to wake up before calling me back. She was SO sweet. Totally half asleep and swollen, but so sweet.

We read some more and played Pass the Pigs. She had about 8 popsicles and 4 glasses of gingerale and apple juice. She was doing GREAT! After the surgeon came and talked to me, our three hours had passed and they said we could go. Kienna was so excited to ride in a wheelchair. As I pushed her along, she started singing, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" I thought this was going to be so much easier than everyone had prepped me for. She was already so happy!



This is Kienna playing with her "humidifier" it was a tube with a fan and water at the base of it. She loved to play with it and was putting it in her mouth and everything. It was hilarious.

She was SO excited to be in a wheelchair.

I was warned that the pain would increase, along with her nausea when the anesthesia wore off... This was not an understatement. She was up crying all night and no combination of Tylenol, Motrin and Codeine would cut the pain. She began throwing up on Wednesday night and then it became more and more frequent as the week continued. On Wednesday night, as she was crying in pain she said,
"Mom, you know what?
"What?"
"If you wanted to make chicken pies, you shouldn't use a chicken that's wearing a hat. Then it would be Chicken Hat Pies!"
(we may have been watching Chicken Run that day)
I laughed so hard, what a sweetie to be thinking such funny things while it hurts to even talk.

Her set-up at home. She would just stay on the couch all day.

This is the chart that she points to in order to tell me how much she hurts. I give her medicine accordingly. Now when I ask her how she's feeling, she says that she can't tell me until I bring her the chart.

As the week continued, her ears began to ache, her throat became more and more swollen and she began to refuse to drink ANYTHING. She quickly became dehydrated with the vomiting and not drinking. She started to have blood come up when she threw up and I began to get scared. Saturday morning I really noticed things getting worse.

Right before heading to the ER. She was SO sick and had lost about 5 pounds in 5 days.

To the Emergency Room we head..... I talked to Health Link before I went and they made me more determined that I needed to go. Kienna hadn't gone to the bathroom at all for over 24 hours and apparently that's NOT good. They gave her some anti-nausea medicine and she began to drink some water. She also went to the bathroom by the end of it and so we headed home with some relief. The second we walked in the door, she saw some leftover pizza and asked to have a piece. Not the greatest thing to start eating again, so we went to apple sauce, popsicles and other such things. She has been eating well since, just no hard food (crackers etc.) yet.

Kienna has an awesome primary teacher who brought her carnations, popsicles and a Princess Magazine. On Sunday, she had the whole class draw pictures and send them to her. She was smiling so big as she looked through them. Thanks Brandy. You're such an awesome teacher!

Sunday night was horrible. She was up crying about her ears every 45 minutes and Jarett ended up forfeiting his side of the bed so that she would be able to snuggle with me and sleep (hopefully) a little bit better. It worked. She slept for the last few hours much more peaceably.

Monday we went to the pediatrician (our weekly visit to Dr Davidson) and he discovered that the antibiotic that they gave us at the hospital wasn't nearly strong enough for her. He supplemented it with more Amoxicillin with additional antibiotic in it so that it would not allow her to build a resistance to it.

That's pretty much where we are. Last night and this morning, she has still be crying about her ear. The hot water bottle has been her best friend and I have her leaning against many pillows to raise her head, which seems to have helped too. She is really a tough girl. She has been SO sweet through it all. When I snuggle with her after she asks me, she says, "See, this is why you're the best mom ever." She has said something like this almost every hour since Tuesday. "Mom, you're the best of the best moms" was one of my favorites! She seems to say this even more when she has the codeine (oh, if only this wasn't a medicine, I would be tempted to give this to her daily - she becomes so sweet and affectionate). She even told me (after watching Barbie in the Nutcracker) that I'm like the Sugar Plum Princess because I'm kind, clever and brave. I think she's thinking of herself. She has been so brave and kind and good through this whole process.

Sleeping on the kitchen table bench. She has been so exhausted!

I'm SO proud of her. She is such a strong little girl. She has cried so much and been so uncomfortable, but she's still so sweet and always thinking of others. She is SUCH a dear little girl! I'm so glad that this is pretty much behind us.

Here's to a Doctor free December!