Friday, February 18, 2011

Danny's Tonsil Surgery

A little background:

When Daniel was one years old, he was sleeping/cuddling with my mom and she noticed how loud and strong he snored. She felt it was odd that he snored so loudly, so the next time we saw the pediatrician I mentioned it and his Pediatrician at the time told us just to watch him and keep an eye on him. She did noticed he sounded "wheezy" at the time, so thought maybe it was just a cold. Over the next few years it got worse and I kept mentioning it to the Pediatrician. Danny turned 4 and I started noticing and thinking that he might be having "sleep apnea" attacks while sleeping. My grandfather and my father both had/have sleep apnea, so I was aware what it looked like. I mentioned to the Dr. once again, but she just felt he sounded wheezy. At his 5 yr check up in March '10, he had a new Dr. and I mentioned it to him. He felt it was important for Danny to see an ENT. We scheduled the ENT appointment that day, but it was an 8 month wait to see the Pediatric ENT. November 22nd was his scheduled appointment.

November 22nd comes around and Danny and I go to see the Pediatric ENT. She exams him and notices his tonsils are about a 2 1/2 on a scale of 0-4. She also notices he has some nasal issues and has trouble speaking clearly. She suggests having him on Flonase for 6 weeks to see if his nasal issues would be cleared up by the Flonase. So she prescribes him Flonase and we make another appointment for 6 weeks, which was 1-11-11 at 8:45am. We have him take Flonase for 6 weeks and then return on 1-11-11.

DH and the whole crew go to Danny's appointment on 1-11-11. I remember as the nurse is doing vitals on Danny and checking him in, that I was supposed to get here before the appointment and take him for an x-ray of his tonsils. I mention it to the nurse and the Dr. says lets do the exam and then if we need the x-ray we will send him down. Dr comes in the room and hears Danny talking and right away says "I don't think we will be needing the x-ray. He sounds and looks the same and I am going to highly recommend tonsil and adenoid removal." My prayers were answered. I had been praying that she would suggest this as I had been feeling that he really needed them out. The ENT Pediatrician and his regular Pediatrician both had mentioned getting the tonsils and adenoids removed would also probably help with his speech. So the Dr talks to us about the surgery, the nurse gives us some paperwork and a coloring book for Danny that talks about the surgery in kid language.

We received a call later in the week and the surgery was scheduled for 2-3-11. Well 2-2-11, Chicagoland was hit with a blizzard of 22" of snow. I was determined to get him to surgery the next day, but our van was trapped, my parents weren't available to babysit the older 2 as planned and other things. I knew God was saying "reschedule". I called at 5am in the morning and cancelled and then called back at 8am and rescheduled. We were able to schedule's for 2-10-11, only 7 days away.

Danny and I went out on 2-9-11, the day before surgery, and shopped for popsiciles, ice cream, jello and other "Treats" for after surgery. We took the 2 older boys to my parents by 9pm on Wednesday, the night before surgery so they can spend the night and grandma and papa would have them the next day during surgery. Got home around 10pm and did gave Danny his last "real meal" for about a week, as he couldn't have anything after midnight. Joshua and Nathan ended up staying at Papa's until Friday and had lots of fun!

We get to the Surgery Center at 9am on 2-10-11, surgery was scheduled for 11am. They take us back to the pre-op room and get him all set up. Danny was very happy and excited about surgery, not nervous at all. I wasn't either. They gave him some "sleepy meds" about 15 minutes before surgery. I was snickering at him under my breath as I watched him get "sleepy" it was actually pretty funny. He was knocked out in about 0 minutes total. They take him back around 11am and we were sent to the waiting room. I read a book while DH took a nap while we waited. The nurse comes and gets us around Noon and I could hear Danny screaming for all the way down the hall. He was coming out of the anesthesia and was coming out very badly. The Drs. informed us that many kids can react this way, in varying degrees. Danny was on the far end of the spectrum and was very violent, although incoherent also. He had no clue what he was saying or doing. He was reacting so badly they had to give him 2 shots of 2 mg each of Haldol. It took him about 1hr before he calmed down and went back to sleep. They had called the Pediatric Ward of the hospital to reserve a bed for him, in case they had to admit him. Danny slept for about 90 minutes and when he woke up he was feeling much better and walking much better, so they decided he could go home that day. The Drs. also confirmed that he had been suffering from Sleep Apnea, as they noticed his very frequent episodes while observing him sleeping before surgery. The Dr. said he probably has not had a good nights full sleep ever! Very true, I can attest to that, because I haven't had much sleep in 6yrs since he was born either!

We left him in his PJ's and just put his coat and other attire on him to take him home. DH went and got the van, they took Danny down in a wheelchair and helped load him in van. They gave him one of those comfy white hospital blankets for the ride home. We drop off his prescription for Tylenol w/Codine at the Walgreen's Drive Thru Pharmacy a few blocks form our house and get him home all in 10 minutes. We arrived home around 4:30pm. I get him some apple juice and get him all settled on the love seat and he pretty much slept the night away. Friday through Sunday were the worst recovery days for him. He was very sore and has lots of excess saliva that he was spitting up. He was drinking, staying hydrated and sleeping a bit. By Monday he had some energy back and was being a bit more active. He even ate some noodles with Alfredo Sauce that night. Wednesday was a no energy day for him, so he and I stayed home from Mid Week Church Activities. Thursday he was still sorta sluggish, but today on day 8 after surgery he is feeling much better.

I am very very glad that he had this surgery. The Dr said his adenoids were a 4 on a scale of 0-4 and his tonsils were a 2. His adenoids were as big as they could be!! He is sleeping much better at night and barely having any sleep apnea episodes. He is falling asleep by 10:30pm, which is way better then the 1am or later he has been doing for the past 4yrs or so. He is currently still snoring, but it is a different snore then he had before. It isn't as labored with the breathing. The Drs said it will probably take 1-2 months before all his symptoms go away. I also noticed today, when he got most of his voice back, that he is speaking better also.

Here are some pictures of his Tonsil Surgery Adventure:

I am so happy that Danny had his Tonsils and Adenoids removed, it has really made a difference for him already!  Thank YOU to everyone who prayed, sent thoughts and asked about Danny's recovery. It has been a long week, but I think he is about 95% recovered and doing very well!

Now if only I can get my sleep scheduled adjusted and get more the 5hrs a sleep a night, I would be good! I have gotten about 5hrs of sleep a night for the past 8yrs or so, and I will be excited to be able to sleep a tad more!

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