Wynken Post-Op Post

Just a short update on Wynken's surgery that we scheduled back in January that took place last Friday.

He had his adenoids (think: nose tonsils) removed successfully but it was a little trying on Mrs. Nod. Wynken's surgery was scheduled for a 1:00 PM start time, but he had to fast from midnight onward the night before. By the time he was done, his blood sugar was at rock bottom: ugliness ensued.

The combination of low blood sugar, anxiety, and anesthesia disorientation led to a post-op screaming fit -- pushing and kicking the nurses, trying to rip out the IV, and general hysteria. Apparently, this is not that uncommon with middle-schoolers post-op (according to the nurses). By contrast, my 4 year old, Nub, only cried for 5 minutes after his hernia surgery.

After he came home and was pumped fresh with Tylenol + Codeine, he chilled and passed out. Sympathetic reactions from the surgery gave him a sore throat and some of the darkest rings around the eyes that I have seen this side of a knuckle sandwich.

Wynken is now recovering well; in fact, he'll be going back to school tomorrow but is prohibited from doing any sports for 2 weeks. Whew!

Life In The Fast Lane

Ask any parent of a big family and they'll tell you that having a big family is like living in the fast lane.

There probably are the same amount of happenings as in any family, but there is just more of it to go around because, well, there are just more people. Hey, it's never dull.

Wynken is going to have his adenoids removed. In the x-ray work done for beginning his orthodontia, the orthodontist noted that his adenoids looked large. She was concerned about his breathing capacity and highly encouraged me to have him seen by an ENT (whose specialty this falls under). We saw the doctor.

Wynken was a real trooper; the doctor stuck a camera up his nose to look around. His adenoids are blocking 90% of his nose breathing capacity/airway. No wonder the kid sleeps with his mouth open; chews food with his mouth open; and is such a mouth-breather. And, it could be causing sleep apnea.

Ain't it grand?

Nub Under The Knife

Hey all,

My 4 year old, Nub, (who also has Down Syndrome) is having a hernia surgery Monday morning and I sure would appreciate your prayers. This is a complication from his open-heart surgery when he was 1 year old that saved his life.

It's supposed to be out-patient surgery and No Big Deal, but as a parent you always worry. It's in God's hands! Ora pro nobis.

UPDATE: Surgery was quick (45 minutes) with a fast recovery (1 hour as opposed to 2). We left the hospital around 10:30 am. He was walking around and playing almost normally until a little while ago when the numbing agent given during surgery wore off. Now he is getting a little fussy. Tylenol is all he is cleared to have. We expect him to be cranky the rest of the day. Total recovery in about two weeks.

He is currently at his normal post looking out the window, playing his musical caterpillar. Thanks for all your prayers.

Nub's Tubes And Wires

"The Internets" are not the only thing with tubes and wires. Now that Nub's filling has been taken care of, we can move on to ears.

The rash of back-to-back "green" colds had convinced us that Nub's ear tubes had fallen out -- it was about the time for them to do so anyway. A trip to the doctor's confirmed that was the case and so a new appointment was scheduled to put them back in for the 3rd time.

Tomorrow's that day. For the second time in two weeks the kid is getting knocked out so they can do a procedure on him. Poor Nub! He's only 3 years old. (Sigh.)

It has a scary name called a myringotomy, but they just put a tiny incision in the ear drum and insert a tiny tube held in place by two wires to let the fluid that has built up behind the ear drum drain.

It's an outpatient procedure, and he usually comes through like a champ -- without whining and crying like all those big kids I see in the recovery room. The surgery time is later than the previous two times which means that the poor kid can't eat or drink until after noon tomorrow. Staving him off in the morning may be a challenge.

The other item for concern is that the awesome doctor who got the tubes into his impossibly crooked ear canals has suddenly retired, so there's no guarantee the new doctor will be as successful in getting both sides "in".

Pray for my boy, Nub. Mater misericordiae, ora pro nobis.