
Friday morning Thomas got tubes put in his ears. We had to get him up at 5:45am and be at the surgery center by 6:30am. (That's really early!) Thomas did great with this but kept looking at us like "mom, dad...where are we going it's early???" Once at the surgery center he found another little boy to play with while I filled out paperwork. They called our name about 6:45 and then took us to preop. Thomas was flirting with the all the nurses and everyone commented on how much they liked his jammies:)
At about 7:20 I put on the gown and cap and followed the nurse to the operating room. I layed Thomas down on the table and the nurse played peek-a-boo with him with a warm blanket she had to keep him comfy. Once the anesthesiologist was ready he put a small mask over Thomas' mouth and nose and started the "sleepy" gas. Thomas tried once to take the mask off and whined a little while looking at me like "mom what are they doing?" It probably only took about 30 seconds until the gas took effect and baby boy was sleeping but it seemed like forever to me. All the OR staff were really surprised with how well he did going under, apparently most kids cry. After Thomas was aleep I was escorted to the consult room where dad was waiting. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before the doctor came in to tell us everything went great and Thomas was doing well. He said when he put the tubes in there was thick fluid behind both membranes so doing the tubes at this time was probably a good idea.
After getting postop instructions from the doctor we were then taken to see Thomas in recovery. He was laying on a bed with a blanket over top of him and he was still out. The nurse said he would wake up on his own in a few minutes and prepared us for him to cry while coming out of the anesthesia. After about 10 minutes Travis said I don't think he's going to wake up... His sleeping had changed and now it looked like he was just taking a nap! After a few more minutes the nurse finally went over and woke him up. Again she said he would probably cry a bit and then as soon as she touched him he flipped himself over and was awake. The nurse handed him immediately to me and he whined just a little and then within a couple minutes was completely fine. Even the nurse was surprised with how well he did and about 5 mintues after he woke up we were discharged. Thomas was acting like nothing even happened! He did cry a bit on the way home I think becuase he was hungry and tired (remember we got up at 5:45!) but other than that he has been doing great. We gave him tylenol and motrin for the first day for the pain and one dose of tylenol the second day but now he's doing just fine on his own.
So far since the surgery we have noticed him talking a lot more and eating better than he has in a long time. His left ear is still draining a bit and I think at times he can feel that but otherwise he seems to be unaffected by the whole thing. Overall, I think going ahead with the tubes at this time was a good idea and I am glad we did it. Now I'm just hoping they stay in a while so we won't have to do it again anytime soon!
The picture above is of Thomas in the car the morning of his surgery...what a cutie pie!!