dax's surgery

the day quickly arrived for the ear tubes, adenoid removal, and turbinate reduction procedures.

will and i got up at 5am to get ready to head to the hospital.  we waited until the last minute to wake daxton from his slumber and quickly put on his coat and hat while he was still in a half sleep.  we loaded him up into the car and headed across town.  the drive is mostly a blur because i was dozing off while will was driving.  once we arrived we parked and got inside quickly to avoid the cold.  daxton was certainly wondering where we were and what we were doing, but he was still groggy from being woken up so early.  we signed in and sat until our pager went off the first time.  at that time we were called back to do the necessary remaining paperwork and sign off on the procedures.  we were then sent back out into the waiting room for a few more minutes before being paged into the back.

daxton was a trooper during pre-op.

daxton's weight was taken and then he was taken back into the pre-op area.  he was given a tiny gown and socks.  we got him changed up and he began to wake.  he played with raffie and a thomas train book i'd packed for him.  he liked being with mommy and daddy and jumping around the crib.  the nurses came in and out explaining what would happen at various points and checking in on us.  everyone commented how relaxed dax was and that they'd never seen a child be so calm.  he was in heaven once they found mickey and doc on the tv and at one point he laid back with his hands folded behind his head while he watched his favorite episode.  the nurses took temperatures, pulses, and filled out documents while dax just rested calmly in the crib.  will and i were nervous wrecks, but dax was cool as a cucumber.

once the anesthesiologist came in she asked if daxton needed any versed (aka - silly juice) because he appeared so calm.  however we told her that he would likely become upset when being wheeled away from daddy.  he is a pretty calm boy if his parents are at the ready, but if you try and take away his daddy (even to pump gas) he can become hysterical.  we opted for the juice.  once the juice kicked in he did seem a little "tipsy" with his speech, but nothing too over the top.  he continued to stay relaxed and seemed very content.  before we knew it the doctor had been in, we'd met with the anesthesiologists, and all of the pre-op work had been done.  at exactly 8:30 he was wheeled away (holding raffie) and never looked back.  we were so glad he went off without a struggle or tears. 

will and i gathered up all of our things and headed to the waiting room.  we had a pager that was to beep when we were to head to recovery, but we knew we had about an hour.  we ran down to the cafeteria to grab some drinks and muffins.  we barely chewed our food so we could hurry back up stairs to wait.  once back in the waiting room we sat nervously waiting for the pager to go off, but before we knew it the doctor and his nurse were standing before us.  we jumped up to speak with them.  the dr. confirmed that everything went well - that dax's adenoids had been large and there was quite a bit of fluid in his ears - but that he was headed to recovery and that they'd page us when we could go back.  we were so happy that things had gone well and that he was on the back end of the procedure.

these were our rough patches.

shortly thereafter our pager went off and we were taken to recovery.  here poor sweet dax was terribly upset and uncomfortable.  we'd previously been warned from the anesthesiologist and friends that this would be difficult, but nothing can prepare you for your baby going through this.  i attempted to sit in the rocking chair with him first, but he was fighting the cords, the iv, the gown, and the holding.  we struggled for about 10 minutes (which seemed like forever) before trading spots and having daddy hold him while i nervously dug through the diaper bag for wipes and sippy cups.  dax cried and wiggled around, unplugging himself from the heart monitor three times - i fought back the tears and tried to be strong for him.  it took about 30 minutes, but dax slowly began to work out of the anesthesia and the nurse (super annoying) brought him an orange popsicle.  at first he did not want anything to do with it, but after my persistence he ended up eating two of them.  that really helped him muster up the strength to get permission to get dressed and get out of there.  once he was dressed and all cords and the iv were removed he was content.

he cried a little bit in the car, but quickly dropped the sippy cup into the floor once we hit the interstate and drifted off to sleep.  once we were home we got him a fresh diaper and got him into his bed.  we checked in on him multiple times and gave him his pain meds, but he slept for about 5.5 hours before fully waking.  once he was up he needed a change of clothes and some food.  we got him some macaroni, then some apple sauce, then some banana, then some bunny crackers, and a lot of water.  once his belly was full he got down and played with his snowman snow globe for about 10 minutes.  we all sat together on the couch just thankful he was doing so well.  we let him watch a tv show and he was up for about an hour before it was his regular bed time and he decided it was time for night night.  he slept well that night.

wednesday we woke up and dax seemed a little stuffy and swollen, which the dr. warned us about.  we got him his breakfast and medicines and all snuggled into bed.  he was definitely uncomfortable and pretty grumpy.  we let him keep his passie and do pretty much whatever he felt like to get through the rough patch.  this was definitely the worst time frame aside from the recovery room.  we worked through it and he slowly made progress into getting back to his old daxy self later that night.  by dinner time he was doing full gallops across the keeping room floor and putting on a show for namaw and poppie (visiting for thanksgiving).  we knew our boy was getting back to feeling much more like himself.

before we knew it our boy was back to being himself.

by thanksgiving we had a lot to be thankful for.  our sweet boy was feeling good and woke up chattering and singing like his normal precious self.  he was excited to watch the parade, eat a hearty breakfast, and play with his grandparents.  you would have never known he was 48 hours out from surgery.  everyone told us that he'd quickly bounce back, but it was still hard to believe.  aside from a runny nose, he is doing exceptionally well.  he enjoyed his thanksgiving dinner by eating multiple rolls and a bite of sweet potatoes.  i fixed him a nice pretty plate, but he set his foot down and gave me a firm NO on everything i suggested he eat.  we knew he had his stubbornness back.  we've been to the park two days in a row and he's run and galloped across the play grounds to go up and down the slide - again and again.  we're so glad we opted for the surgery and hope that he continues to feel even better each day.  we should have his allergy testing back within two weeks, and will hopefully learn if there is anything we need to watch out for or seek further testing on.