When we scheduled Piper to get her tonsils out, I knew it wasn’t going to be fun or particularly easy. I knew that. But we’d just watched one of our little friends do it with absolutely no issues whatsoever, so I had hopes that maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. I counted on being there for two nights (the mandatory one seemed a little optimistic); I did not expect FOUR.
Practicing with her mask. Our buddy, Brie (Child Life Specialist extraordinaire), came in and showed Piper what was going to happen and what Piper’s job was going to be. Then she put fruity chapstick on the inside of the mask so that it smelled good for the anesthesia. Piper had plenty of time to practice with it while we waited, and even let her baby try. When it came time to do it for real, she was awesome- laid down on the table, held the mask on, and off she went. It. was. fantastic.
Those would be the last smiles we saw for days. Until Addy came to visit- that seemed to make her pretty happy. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more! Addy squealed. They hugged. And kissed. And Piper finally, finally, cracked a smile.
Piper didn’t drink for four days. We were finally discharged on a “diet” of jello and half melted popsicles- and even that was very minimal. They turned her IV down to half over the nights and left it off all day. Nothing. They gave her a dose of steroids (surprisingly, even though she hadn’t moved much at all and was wobbly to stand, even on day three, she was still capable of throwing a pretty impressive ‘roid rage in the hospital room. Cripes.) which helped a bit, but did little more than perk her up. They changed her pain meds and doses, but getting her to swallow the junk took at least two adults. She had a humidifier on her bed. She couldn’t sleep and absolutely wouldn’t eat. She kept signing “hurt” and saying “ow ow owwwwwwieeeee” hour after hour.
It was a really fun week. But at least she didn’t have any major issues; it was just a matter of convincing her to sleep and eat and drink. I’m certainly thankful that there were no complications, but good grief. I give major, major kudos to you mamas that always have a fight over eating. Seriously. You all deserve a vacation, I’m sure.
So Piper got to go home on Sunday (surgery was on Wednesday) and spent the next four days at home- not moving, barely drinking, and me pleading with her to get the antibiotics and pain meds down. I was pretty sure that she was going back to the doctor on Tuesday because she was not drinking; thankfully she had some that afternoon and saved us both the pain of another IV. She even had to miss her meet-the-teacher at school.
Now we’re another week into it all and she’s getting close to being her old self. She’s still down about a pound and a half, and she’s still really tired. In fact, she even fell asleep at school on Thursday morning. Poor kid. But she’s mostly eating and drinking now, and she’ll even take some Tylenol on her own accord if she’s really hurting. AND she took an over two hour nap this afternoon for the first time since before surgery, so hopefully that’ll help, too.
But, on the positive side, I swear that her voice is already more “open” sounding. Her articulation of vowel groups (like the “ow”, “ah-ee”, etc) is way more clear than it was before. She’s still really swollen from what I can see when she lets me look, but that’s got to start getting better. I finally gave up on the medication and decided that she could have it if she didn’t fight it. She went about four days without anything, but has, in the last few days, decided that it actually does help and asks for it a couple times a day. I figure that’ll help the swelling, too, and she definitely sleeps better when she’s had some during the day.
I’m just thankful that they won’t grow back. Or shouldn’t grow back. At least it’s unlikely that they’ll grow back. And if they do? She’ll be older and can take care of herself. Or I’ll accidentally buy a plane ticket for the same week. That’s fair, right?
