Friday, January 16, 2009

Max's Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

Max, pre-surgery

Max had his tonsils out this morning.  It was a little (well, a lot) traumatic for both of us.  Here's how it unfolded:

7:00 am - Max asks for something to drink or eat.  I explain that he can't eat before his surgery and he is upset but easily distracted.

7:20 - I try to get Max and Aviva ready to go out to the car and Max flips out because he can't have anything to eat or drink.  He proceeds scream and cry.

7:40 - Drop off Aviva at Mandy's house.  Max still crying.

8:00 - Arrive at hospital.  Max stops crying, but is hoarse from all the strain.

8:10 - a woman checks us in and Max turns on the charm.  He proceeds to flirt with the nurses and make jokes with the doctor.   

8:50 - Max goes into surgery.  

9:20 - The nurses and Dr. come out and tell me everything went great.  Max had a great time putting on a show of how deeply he could breath in and out and then playing hide and seek with the blanket they gave him.  The surgery went really well and they would come get me when he started to come to.  I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

9:45 - The nurse comes and gets me and says, "He's really mad."  I turn the corner and three nurses are trying to restrain him.  He is going insane.  He's got blood coming out of both nostrils, two scratches on his face, he's trying to rip out his IV, his eyes keep rolling back and he's pleading with them to let him get down (btw, he can't stand on his own and the floor is concrete). 

You can imagine my horror.  So they give him to me and for the next 15 minutes I try to restrain him and bring him back to reality.  I was crying the whole time.  It was just so horrible.  When he was finally able to stand on his own we took him by each hand and brought him out to the carpeted waiting room so that he would be in a different place.  We let go of him and he stopped thrashing.  Then he just stood there and yelled his frustrations out.  I stood there with his coat and just let him come over to me when he was ready.  The nurse left to get some papers and he finally came over and sat on my lap and hugged me.    Two popsicles later he was ready to go.  

10:30 - We get in the car and he falls asleep.  

1:00 - He is happily watching movies.  They said he could eat whatever solids he wanted, but probably wouldn't want to for a couple of days.  The important thing is to get him to keep drinking.  By 1:00 he had had 2 cups of juice, 5 popsicles, a bowl of ice cream and a small McDonald's french fry.  He tried to eat the chicken nuggets but couldn't quite do it, so he just chewed each one up and then spit it out instead. 

1:30 - Nurse Cheryl calls to see how Max is doing.  "It was an unusual recovery and we just want to make sure he's okay." Unusual, yes.  

I'm just grateful it's over and he seems to be having a good recovery now.  Thank goodness for tylenol with codine.  He did just tell me that his "voice hurts," but hopefully things will only get better from here.   
 


13 comments:

Elizabeth Downie said...

Pobrecito! I remember being totally traumatized when I woke up after getting my tonsils and adnoids out as a kid. When I woke up, I was in the process of throwing up blood. It was pretty upsetting. Poor little Max! That picture of him on the hospital bed is really sad. I hope he's feeling better soon!

Amy said...

I'm glad the "Find the Pokemon" book brought Max comfort in his hour of need. I had no idea he was even sick. I'm glad you both made it though okay!

xóchitl said...

wow! you're amazing! so is max.

marin had the same surgery a few years ago and i remember being a wreck. she ended up having to be admitted to the ER for dehydration 2 days after her surgery because she kept throwing everything up. doesn't sound like max has that problem. phew!

it does break my heart to hear how upset he was. poor thing.

Rebecca said...

Oh my goodness! I am so sorry you had to go through that! It just brought tears to my eyes reading what you went through.

I hope you are sleeping right now!

Get well soon little Max.
xoxoox

Kristin Mulrooney said...

We are hoping Max (and you!) recover quickly. Hugs.

Anonymous said...

I just finished reading Shauri's last post, dried my tears of laughter and moved on to your post. My heart broke. I think watching our children stuggle through a surgery and recovery we know is for their best is one of the hardest things a mother can bear. I hope you all have sweet dreams tonight.

Melanie said...

Oh my word. The picture is adorable but what a traumatic experience. Here's to a quick recovery and no more meltdowns.

Delsa said...

My poor baby and all of this going on while I am out of tough in Darwin. When was the decision made for the surgery? They don't do those operations much anymore, was his really bad? Will this help his snoring? Maybe others could try it.

Jana said...

That is so sad. But I am glad he is getting better. I would have been so scared to see my child so scared. I bet you are glad it is over.

Aly said...

I'm SO sorry! Emma was the same way with her stitches... which theoretically should have been so much less dramatic than tonsils. Emma was screaming and thrashing as three men took her from my arms to sedate her. Jeff lost it. I guess I felt as the mom I had to hold it together or something because I managed. I'm so glad to hear he's recovering well. It's so hard to see them suffer.

sterlingandbrandi said...

That's horrible! Poor little boy and Mom! Sorry Kris- that sounds so hard. When Lily had her heart surgery and we walked in to the recovery room I did okay for a second (she was only 6 days old and in drug-induced paralysis so I didn't have to see thrashing) but then I lost it and had to run out of the room. I swear there's nothing worse than seeing your little one in pain.

Kris said...

Sounds traumatic for both of you. Glad he's on the mend, but hopefully his voice won't hurt for too much longer. ( :

Crazyloca said...

oh, so traumatic! i hated going to the hospital with mackay!! i am glad you got through it...