Bye Bye Adenoids

Son #3, age 3 1/2, had his adenoids removed today - primarily because he snores like crazy, so loudly that he often wakes himself up at night but also because he suffers from frequent ear and sinus infections. I've been told that it's a "common outpatient procedure" but is it ever really common when it's your child?

The pre-operative instructions state that Son #3 could not eat or drink after midnight last night and his procedure wasn't scheduled until 11:30 this morning, so we decided to throw a Bye Bye Adenoid party. Sons #1 and #3 and I stayed up late, read books, watched TV and ate snacks (Son #2 tuckered out around 10:45). Son #3 had his last snack of the evening at 11:30 p.m. and fell asleep 10 minutes later.

This morning I woke him at 9:50 - another benefit of having stayed up late the night before. I dressed him, he bid a tearful farewell to Paw Paw and ten minutes later we were out the door. We arrived at the surgery center at 10:30. Get this: as soon as you walk in the facility, there are two vending machines to your immediate left. Who thought of that plan? Of course, Son #3 remembers that he didn't have breakfast (no eating after midnight) and starts screaming for Cheetos.

He wasn't in the least bit interested in the coloring sheet they gave him. He just wanted to go home, adenoids intact. Next we were lead to the linen closet so he could choose what color hospital gown he wanted. Answer: none. He absolutely did not want to take off his red Power Ranger t-shirt.

Next it was on the pre-op room where it took me and one nurse to hold him down while another nurse squirt some 'happy juice' (a sedative) down his throat. After that ordeal, I sat in the rocker with my baby on my lap, while the nurse put on his bracelet, and started affixing different things onto him. The little thing to measure blood pressure was attached to his big toe and glowed red (the instrument, not the toe). That amused him for a moment until he realized that his socks had been removed, which sparked another round of hysterics.

He was getting a little loopy and I managed to take off his t-shirt but he didn't want to put the gown. The nurse gave us a blanket to put over him. At 11:30 the anesthesiologist came and said "it's time" so he took him (who was screaming again) off to do his thing, which involved placing a mask over Son #3's nose/mouth to make him sleep, then inserting an IV in the top of his hand.

The adenoidectomy was over 30 minutes later. The doc said Son #3 did fine. They brought me back to post-op about 15 minutes later where he was now awake and very cranky. This is not unusual for little kids when coming out of anesthesia. He tried pulling the IV out of his hand and got upset when the nurse stopped him. The nurse explained to him that the IV provided liquids to the body and that when he could drink liquids on his own (specifically Gatorade), then she'd take out the IV. At first he resisted, then he grabbed the cup, guzzled the Gatorade and said "take it out - NOW!" The nurse complied. I got him dressed and we were allowed to leave.

All told, we were there just 3 hours. His mood improved considerably over the next couple of hours. He's supposed to have soft foods for the next 3 days and engage in only "light activity" for the next 2 weeks. Excuse me, but he hasn't engaged in "light activity" since before he learned to walk.

Judging by how he's fussing and yelling at his big brothers, I'm guessing his throat isn't very sore at the moment. However, the nurse did say that he might feel a little worse this evening as the anesthesia works its way out of his system. It's a relief that it's over.