Tonsillectomy

After years of fighting recurring strep throat infections, Jeff and I finally decided it was time for Connor to get his tonsils out. With the extended recovery time, it's always best to wait until summer or winter break to have it done. What a bummer of a way to spend his summer, though!

 

With our busy summer schedule, it was hard to carve out 1-2 weeks of downtime for the surgery. But we finally booked the date and then began preparing Connor for the surgery and the tough recovery. I warned him that his throat would HURT! I also told him that he could have whatever soft foods (ice cream!) or drinks he would like because it was important for him to drink/eat even though he probably wouldn't want to. He didn't seem worried at all about the surgery; all he cared about was that he'd be able to drink as much Sprite and orange soda as he wanted!

 

When we arrived at the Children's Hospital for the surgery, the nurses gave Connor these super soft green pajamas. He loved them and wanted to make sure we could take them home!

 

Connor's cool pajamas.

And I wonder where Connor gets the bunny-ear thing from??

When it was time for Connor to go to the operating room, he was all smiles and didn't seem nervous at all. We had been joking about the anesthesia and how he might be asked to count backwards from 100 but that he'd barely make it past 99. One of the cool things at the Children's Hospital was that Connor was able to pick a flavor of anesthesia, and he chose banana. I also warned Connor that he might not remember much before or after the surgery because the anesthesia might make him forget. He asked a lot of questions, but he walked back to the OR with the nurses and never looked back.

After the quick operation, Connor was wheeled into the recovery room and we were brought back in there to see him. Of course I had to take his picture -- it's kind of sad seeing these little kids out of it like that!

Still out from the anesthesia.

Waking up, he offered a sweet smile.

When Connor began to wake up, he immediately started chatting up a storm. It cracked me up! His poor little voice was strained from his sore throat, but he didn't seem to mind at all. The first thing he told us was that he remembered everything from before the surgery. He wanted to make sure I knew that the anesthesia didn't make him forget like I had said it would. Ha!

The nurses offered Connor whatever he wanted, even a popsicle. He slowly began to wake up and downed his entire can of Sprite in minutes. I was really surprised because I had been warned that he wouldn't want to drink at all and that it would be a big battle. Jeff and I were so impressed; he was being such a tough kid.

Soon after, Jeff took off to relieve the babysitter at home with Kaitlynn. When it was time to take Connor home, the nurses wheeled him out and handed him a sweet get-well card.

It took a while to be discharged and to get our car, and during that time Connor seemed to start going downhill. I just assumed he was tired and would sleep off his anesthesia on the drive home.

When we finally started the drive home, we were in the thick of rush-hour traffic and it was taking forever to get through the gridlock. I was backed up in stoplight after stoplight, when suddenly I heard a terrible noise in the backseat. It was Connor, throwing up profusely all over himself and the car!

I pulled over as quickly as I could and tried to stay calm. He had thrown up all of the Sprite and popsicle from the hospital, but there was a lot of blood from his raw throat as well. Connor started to cry and apologize over and over. I felt so bad for him and assured him it was not a big deal! Luckily I had a big package of baby wipes with me (not sure I'll ever stop carrying those things!) and I was able to get him cleaned up and moved over to another dry car seat. I also gave him a bag in case he got sick again. Which he did -- he ended up vomitting all the way home!

I was so stressed driving in that traffic and not being able to help Connor when he was sick over and over, but we were on the freeway for most of the drive and there was just nothing I could do. I ended up talking to the doctor on the phone who assured me that Connor was probably fine and that it was just his tummy reacting to the anesthesia and other medicine they gave him. I was so worried and wondering if this was the start of a bad recovery for him.

But two days later...

Yep, two days after his surgery, Connor was begging to go outside and swim and play. We had to force him to rest and make sure he wasn't overdoing it on the activities. Jeff and I couldn't believe how easy the recovery was for him. Of course, we stayed on top of his medications which certainly helped. But there was only 1 day or so (around day 4 post-op) where Connor seemed even remotely in pain. Amazing! We were so proud of him and SO thankful to get the surgery behind us. Now here's hoping for no more strep!