Ear tubes are in!

It was a long long day yesterday.

Alex woke us up bright and early around 7 AM and promptly used sign language and said "eat". We distracted him with toys and going outside, but about every 5 minutes he repeated his "eat" command. We tried to get him drinking as much as possible, though since he couldn't drink after 9 AM. Then, when that had to stop - he would say "eat" and "milk" or "wa-wa". We successfully distracted him, mostly Lance, while I was getting a bag ready for the day. We took turns eating out of his sight, so that at least we weren't starving all day.

They told us to check in at 11:45 AM, so we were there on the dot. But, after about 10 minutes - I realized we weren't going anywhere anytime soon. I asked and his appointment was at 1 PM!!!!!! AHHHHH!

We were finally called after Alex did a very good job of playing in the lobby with all of the exciting things Children's has to offer (crayons, fish tanks, toys, books).

Every time he sees a doctor (or doctor-like person) he starts to cry and get upset now. So, needless to say - when the doctors (2 anesthesiologists, 2 nurses, 1 admissions, the surgeon, etc) came in - he got pretty upset when the needed to take his temperature, check his BP, and get some other vitals. He was so upset, in fact, that they decided it would be best to give a valium dosage. It worked pretty well and was pretty giggly and wobbly. He was still too upset to go back alone to the operating room, so I was able to go with him. I had to place him on the table and they put a mask over his face with strawberry flavored gas. He screamed so much that first breath took a while, and then the second, too. But, he was out within 5 breaths and was making a funny noise. The two anesthesiologist said it was normal and the surgeon helped me find my way back to our room.

About 45 minutes later, he was returned back to us and was very glad. He cried quite a bit, and was probably very scared. Feeling funny and where in the heck was he??? WHO were these people???? Where's my Mama & Daddy? We quickly got him juice and a popsicle. Boy - was he thirsty! He drank and drank and drank. He was all over his Daddy. He just wanted Daddy and nearly broke his Mama's heart.

We were given instructions and he did very well through all of that. He kept everything down and we were discharged probably 45 minutes later. He's getting drops in his ears for 3 days, which should clear up his infection that was there before the procedure. They said there was fluid behind the ear drums and everything went as planned. He did have a "bronco-spasm" where he chocked a bit on something and his lungs went into spasm. It can be dangerous, but the anesthesiologists took care of it by giving him air in his lungs, but they did have to put in an IV line in case they needed to give him more drugs. The pushed air in his lungs caused the burps later on, but nothing else. He was very unhappy about the IV when he was more awake. He tried pulling it out many times.

We got home and didn't do much. He was missing Bella very much and got to see her. He got to eat, too and ate like a horse - actually 2 horses! He ate an entire can of soup, 4 string cheeses, cereal, crackers, and much more.

Overall, it was a long hard day. One that I don't want to repeat anytime soon. Although, it did put things into perspective - Lance say a co-worker there with his 2 year old that was scheduled for kidney surgery.