The hearing test confirmed our suspicion that she has hearing problems. They showed us the grid they use to report results. The top little bit is grayed out and represents a normal hearing level. Lily was about halfway down the grid indicating a significant loss of hearing. However, they were also able to test the nerve in her ear and determine there was no damage to it which meant the hearing problem could be attributed to the large build-up of fluid in her ears. We didn't really suspect fluid because she has only had one ear infection in her life (almost two years ago), but this was great news. After consulting with the ENT doctor, we decided tubes in her ears would be our best route to go, and it was scheduled for this morning.
The children's hospital called last Thursday to tell us she had been scheduled for 10:40 AM, and we needed to arrive at 8:30. We were hoping it would be earlier because she wouldn't be able to eat for four hours before the surgery. However, they schedule the youngest kids first ("Three is old age in the pediatric world" according to one of the nurses), so they had to wait to see what other children would be coming in before they could schedule the time. We waited until this morning to tell Lily what we were going to do because we didn't want her to worry about it beforehand. So, we were up getting ready when she came into our room this morning and immediately asked for her breakfast. I told we weren't going to eat breakfast this morning because we were going to see the special doctor again who would make her ears feel better. She asked if she could have a breakfast cookie (I love the Quaker Oats breakfast cookies) and milk in the car, and I told her she could after the visit; she seemed okay with that. We got ready and watched Curious George while we waited a few minutes for Granna to arrive because she was going to watch Mia for us. Lily ran into the room to tell Granna she was going to see the special doctor, and Granna gave her a cool new book about Finding Nemo that made Lily excited. We made it to the hospital without any problems. Lily started to seem a little nervous (she asked me to carry her), but she was alright.
Ryan checked us in while Lily and I played in the waiting room. They asked him to bring her back so she could get her bracelet, and when she came out, she was carrying an adorable little stuffed animal. It is the mouse from the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and she loved it. Even though she brought one of her dolls with her, she was immediately attached to the mouse. Right after they came out from registration, the nurse showed us to a triage room where they took her weight, heart rate, oxygen level and blood pressure, then she showed us to a private room. While we waited on the next nurse to come in, Lily decided her mouse looked like a teacher and wanted to name her "Miss Delta" which is the name of her teacher last year at Mommy Morning Out. I thought that was really sweet. A nurse, anesthetists and the doctor came in to go over again what was going to happen...medicine beforehand, gas mask to put her to sleep, tubes in ears, short recovery room visit, back to us, drink fluid and keep it down, discharge. Everyone was so nice and friendly, and Lily seemed okay with everything. She was so excited about putting on the hospital gown. It was purple with panda bears driving rockets around outer space, but she thought it was cool looking; she also liked the non-slip socks they gave her. She couldn't wait to put it on, so we got her dressed.
About 10 minutes before the surgery (they were running about 30 minutes ahead of schedule by the way which we were impressed with), they gave her some Tylenol and also something to relax her. They told me not to let go of her after that because she would probably become woozy and could fall. For about 5 or 6 minutes, she seemed perfectly fine, and I wondered if it was working. Then all of a sudden, I could feel her body getting heavy and she started to slump over a little onto the bed. She was literally in mid-sentence, and she just stopped talking and said "Umm, I don't know anymore;" her eyes started to look so tired too. I helped her get comfortable on the bed with Miss Delta and her baby next to her. The nurse came in, got the bedrail put up, let us each give her a kiss and then wheeled her out; Lily didn't put any kind of a fight.
That was at 10:05. At 10:20 the doctor came in to say she did great, there was a very large fluid build-up, the tubes should help, she was in recovery and would be back to us in a few minutes. About two minutes later, they wheeled her bed back in. The nurse said she had just opened her eyes and had started to cry. They had warned us that kids usually wake up very irritable from this because of the short use of anesthesia; she likened it to being in a really deep sleep and the phone rings waking you up. However, when Lily looked over at us, it was the saddest face I have ever seen, and I hope to somehow erase it from my mind someday. Then she started coughing and struggling to sit up, so the nurse put the bed rail down and I picked her up. She buried her head into my shoulder. She was crying and coughing; the nurse said the coughing was a normal reaction from having a breathing tube down her throat. They brought her some apple juice, but she wasn't interested yet. She also said her ears hurt which wasn't much of a surprise; the doctor had told us they often say this because they feel such a sense of relief from the fluid, but don't know how to express that. She didn't seem to be in pain, but she was very confused at what had happened. We just sat in the rocking chair together while she calmed down. After a few minutes she gulped down the juice and had no problems keeping it down. We watched some Little Einsteins on tv and relaxed. After about 15 or 20 minutes of this, we were ready to go.
As we got in the car, Lily said she was hungry, so we asked if she wanted to go to Chick-fil-a. She readily agreed, so that's where we headed. By the time we arrived, she seemed pretty much back to normal, talking and laughing. She ate a chicken strip, all of her fries, several of my fries and drank her milk; we also got a small milkshake that she finished off at home. This is a huge lunch for her, so we knew she was starving!
The rest of the afternoon and evening seemed very normal. In fact, if you see my previous post, you can read a little about the fun the girls had. She seems great, so here's hoping the tubes will actually help improve her hearing. We'll call tomorrow to schedule a follow-up visit for 4-6 weeks from now and maybe we'll see some improvement. You can see a picture Ryan took later in the day of Lily hugging Miss Delta and showing off her blue hospital bracelet.
I am so thankful to have this day behind us! I know that this is such a common procedure, one Ryan had done five times as a child. However, when it's your own child having surgery, it's not the same as hearing all the other success stories (especially when you sign that consent form that explains the risks that come with any surgery). We are so glad God was watching over sweet Lily and the medical team that worked on her; what an answer to prayer!
1 comment:
Whew! Reading that had me all tensed up and ready for some sympathy mommy tears! Glad that it was so smooth and fast! She is a very brave girl with wonderful parents that take such good care of her! Hope that it helps!
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