Bebe's Surgery

So, Bebe has had trouble hearing lately. This (sadly) is not a new thing for her. She got her first set of ear tubes when she was in Kindergarten, her second set in First Grade and then we thought we were in the clear. Well, we made it through Second Grade without tubes, but this summer she got a little cold with caused fluid to build up in her ears and it wouldn't drain. *Yuck, I know.*

Well, we went to the ENT last week since her hearing was still not where it should be and I wanted to see what we could do before school starts. Our fabulous Dr. P confirmed his suspicions that her ears were blocked with a (gross alert) think mucus that wouldn't drain with meds. Third set of tubes, here we come! Also, he noted that her adenoids were probably blocking her sinuses or something and causing the fluid to build up in her ears. He had the audiologist (who always looks so super cute) confirm it. She had hearing loss, but when they bypassed the fluid, her hearing was fine. SUPER! No permanent damage. Just gotta get rid of that blasted fluid.

We set up her appointment for this past Tuesday and then had to move it to Thursday due to different factors; the majority being the insurance stuff. (I even got to talk to Aetna's version of Peggy! That was a super way to start off my Monday this week. When I called back, I got a super helpful guy though.)

So we took Mamu off to school Thursday morning and then Bebe to the surgery center. After we got through checking in, we were off to pre-op. She took Pinky (her little sheep she got for her first set of tubes, and has been with us for the second set as well) and her pillow pet Penny (a dolphin). The nurses were very impressed that she was calm and reading while she was waiting. She drank her 'giggle juice' which puts her to sleep before she goes back. She starts to get silly and told me that I had four eyes. After they took her back to surgery, I went back to the waiting room. While I was in the waiting room, I was able to overhear a very detailed conversation by a lady about how someone at her work is stealing and they can prove it, but the person doesn't get fired. I was able to tell you that in one sentence. It took her 30 minutes. Wow. I wasn't eavesdropping either; I would've had to put on headphones to block her out.

Also while I was waiting, I was texting Auntie. I'll give you those texts in another post. This ones getting long enough.

Once she was in recovery, Dr. P came out and told me that everything went fine. She's got another (and hopefully her last) set of tubes and had a conservative adenoidectemy. She's got to take these antibiotic drops for her ears (which she hates), but tonight's the last time she's going to have to take them. When I went back to see her in recovery, she was trying to itch her nose. She had to have an IV put in this time since they were going into her throat. It was in her left hand and wrapped in guaze so she wouldn't pull at it. It took her about 30 minutes to come out of her sleep and fully start to comprehend what was going on around her. She had some apple juice and a green popsicle. She got another dose of pain meds because her throat was bothering her. Since we were at an ambulatory surgery center, she had to walk out. Once she was in the van, she leaned back in her chair, curled up, and dozed all the way home.

She had a quesadilla and lemonade for lunch followed by a red popiscle. We watched Tangled and Barbie Swan Lake. By then, she was pretty much back to normal. She was on restriction for just Thursday to take it easy. No running, jumping, hopping, etc. Of COURSE this is the day that our 40 day 100+ degree heat wave broke with clouds, rain, and temps in the low 90's. So after we went and picked up Mamu, we played outside with her sitting with me under the umbrella drawing. I'm pretty sure she had another popsicle at some point and enjoyed her tacos for dinner (soft -no crunchy things on Thursday). She was beating me at SkipBo that night. She's got some healing in her throat to do, but she's pretty much as good as new! I am so thankful that she's healthy and that we were able to fix this problem. Here are some photos from the procedure: