Wow, okay. So I haven't posted since July (which, coincidentally, is when I joined FB). Now that I have finally figured out that I can link the two, I have the best of both worlds! Since I've had a lot of questions about Monday's surgery with the boys, I figured what better time than now to combine my FB and my blog, right?
So, Monday morning started early, and I mean EARLY. Like, sickening, should-be-against-the-law-early. I got up at 3:45, which actually felt like 2:45, given the stupid time change. I wondered, "Why did I even bother going to bed?" Unfortunately, the boys had to be at the ol' hospital by 5:30, so I didn't have much of a choice if I still wanted time to get dressed, feed the dogs, and eat a little breakfast (plus, I'm just a slow-mover-- mornings and I are not friends). I finally woke the boys up at 5:00, and they were less-than-thrilled, especially when I told them they couldn't have breakfast (Good morning, boys! It's so stinkin' early that it's still dark outside, AND you have to get up, AND you have to starve! Happy Monday!).
Their "I'm not very happy with you, Mommy!" attitude quickly changed once I informed them that they could wear their pajamas and slippers in the car. Considering we were the only ones in the waiting room, they got to watch Disney Channel, while we tried very hard not to pass out from exhaustion and boredom. Luckily, they took us back pretty quickly, and the boys were excited to discover that they each had a fancy backpack waiting for them on their beds, complete with a teddy bear in a doctor's coat. Given some of the squirrelly names that Gabe gives his animals, I was pretty surprised when he named it "Mr. Doctor Bear". B-O-R-I-N-G. Oh well, maybe it was still too early in the morning for him to be creative. In my opinion, it was too early in the morning to know my own name, much less come up with a name for someone else.
The nurses were all super nice, and a little before 7:00, one of them came in to give Gabe his "silly drink". Gabe was adamant against the idea of falling asleep, and insisted that I give the doctor his request, so I was glad that they gave each of the boys a little "liquid happy" to chill them out before taking them down for surgery. They warned us it would make them goofy within about 10 minutes or so, and while Gabe didn't seem all that phased by it, Josh was incredibly entertaining, to the point that I wished my phone was able to capture video clips. He absolutely insisted that he had eleven fingers, and just laughed at us when we told him he only had ten. Then, I guess his vision must have been getting blurry, because he told us that his "eyes were getting old, because he couldn't see very good" (laughing the whole time). The best part was when he was swatting at all of the invisible "bugs" that were in the room. I'm ashamed to say that we got a good laugh out of it all-- it was kind of like picking on the drunk guy at the party. Hey, anything to keep us awake, because I could hardly keep my eyes open, and the rocking chair they gave me to sit in certainly didn't help matters.
Gabe's tonsils, adenoids, and ear tubes only took about an hour, and then we were taken to the recovery room. A warning to all parents who have never had their child come out of anesthesia before: Be prepared for a violent child. I kind of wish someone would have warned us about how kids react when they start to wake up from surgery, because at least we would've been prepared for the angry, confused little monsters they turned into. By the time we arrived in recovery, Gabe had stripped his gown off, was trying to pull the IV out of his foot, swinging and kicking at anyone who was handling him, and screaming and crying. It wasn't fun. Luckily, they don't remember that part of things, according to the nurses, which is good. Plus, they felt like they couldn't breathe, because the numbing agent in their throats left them feeling like they had something stuck inside, so he kept gagging and coughing. The nurse warned us that it could last 30-4o minutes (jaw on floor at this point), but that most kids end up falling back asleep, which Gabe did after about 15 minutes or so, thank goodness.
Josh's tonsils and adenoids didn't take quite so long, but when he finally arrived in the recovery room, his whole waking-up process went the same way, only a nurse finally had to hold his feet, because he was kicking everyone so bad. He also stripped himself (ha-ha), but it took him a little longer to fall asleep. Once he calmed down, Gabe had started to wake up enough to want his pj's, and the first thing he asked was, "Where's Josh?" so we wheeled his bed into Josh's recovery room, where they both slept for a couple of hours. Once they were both able to drink, and we had Josh's pj's back on, they were ready to go. They must've been on a lot of pain meds, because they were having entirely too much fun wheeling themselves around in the wheel chairs at that point.
Once we got them home, they took over my bed, slept a lot, ate some yogurt, and watched TV. We began the lovely medication schedule, that will last until Monday at least. Every 4-6 hours, around the clock. Good times. That is why I finally passed out on the couch around 5:30 for about an hour, until Eric woke me up for dinner. Once we got them to bed, I took care of a few things around the house, and crashed about 10:30, because I had to get up again at midnight. The boys wanted to sleep in my bed, and I let them, which was kind of a huge mistake, because I didn't sleep a wink with all of their gurgling and coughing. Then, later in the night, Gabe threw up, which they warned us they would probably do from all the drainage (I won't gross you out with the details). Needless to say, it was a L-O-N-G night, especially after I had been awake since 3:45 the previous morning.
Yesterday, they both tanked, which they also warned us they would do. Gabe felt decent enough in the morning, even though he wasn't eating, because he had enough thought and energy to get into costume and make a silent (but noteworthy) appearance downstairs.
Not too long after that, everything went downhill, and they just sort of laid there, watching TV and sleeping, with their mouths hanging open, barely talking. They were like little zombies. While they are both usually really good about taking medicine, I've had to all but hold them down just to medicate them, which makes for a long process when you have to do it for two kids. Then, they refused to eat anything yesterday, and didn't want to drink much either, which can pose a real problem when the doctor wants them to drink 60 oz. per day. Yeah, right. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes sometime after 4:00, but that was about it. They wouldn't even eat dinner, but I at least convinced them to have a shower, which they were resistant to at first, but then enjoyed, when they realized how good it felt on their stiff neck, back, and shoulders (for some reason, this particular surgery causes those muscles to get stiff). I convinced them to sleep in their own bed, didn't have to completely wrestle and hog-tie them for their bedtime medicine, and got them into bed by 7:30. I finally got myself to bed a couple of hours later, so as to prepare (yet again) for the 12:00 and 5:00 doses of medicine.
Had I known how last night was going to go, I would've skipped the two hours-worth of cleaning-up I did after I got them in bed, and taken that time to sleep. Gabe threw up again once, and Josh threw up three times, once all over the floor, so I had to stay up to clean that up (for reasons I won't go into, due to the gross factor). Then, they wanted to come back to my room, but rather than try to move them in with me, I just told them I'd take the top bunk instead, and they seemed pleased with that. So, it was another night of gurgling, coughing, snoring, puking, and medicating, and I'm beginning to forget what it feels like to sleep. Words can't describe how excited I am about doing this little routine until Monday (but hey, at least it's probably only until then-- it could be worse).
Today they seem to be doing better, although now that they're talking more, I can definitely hear the change in their voices. It's really, really weird. Josh has fought me on his medicine, but Gabe is finally starting to take it like a man. Part of that is due to the fact that Josh is convinced that the medicine makes him throw up, but I've explained to him why that is not the case. Once he managed to hold down his medicine, he got brave enough to eat some Cheerios, and now some Spaghetti-O's (GAG ME). Gabe is on his third bowl of Cheerios today, so that's good, too. I'm just hoping they nap this afternoon, so I can squeeze in a power-nap, or a shower, or something along those lines. It's like having new babies all over again-- LOL.
Oh yeah, Happy St. Patrick's Day!
1 comments:
Poor little guys (and mommy too). Sounds pretty sucky!
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