I had mentioned, back in October, that Drew failed his hearing screen at preschool. To make a long story short, Drew had gotten tubes when he was 15 months old, they never fell out, the ENT removed them in the Spring of 2013, throughout the Summer and Fall we noticed him not being able to hear well, he failed his hearing screen in October, we took him to the ENT, the ENT determined that he needed another set of tubes along with an adenoidectomy and nasal turbinate coblation. :( Apparently, Drew got my weird ear anatomy and the angle of his Eustachian tube is not conducive to properly draining fluid. Poor guy - sorry about that, Buddy.
Drew's surgery was scheduled for January 28th. In typical Sarah fashion, I was 20 shades of crazy in the weeks leading up to the procedure. :-/ I knew that he would have to be intubated this time, and that made me a nervous wreck. I remembered some difficult airway cases from my nursing days, and I was so anxious! In the end, I had to give my fears to the Lord and trust that He would take care of my boy as He saw fit. I know that I never truly have any control over my kids' lives, but this really was a lesson in submission for me. I had to trust in the Lord to protect one of His most precious gifts to me. It seems simple, but it was so hard to put into practice.
Our friends and family were so sweet to shower us with hugs, emails, and texts to let us know that they were praying for us. My 12 year old niece, Makinley, had all of her friends at school praying for Drew. My best friend's 6 year old daughter, Maggie, requested prayer for Drew during prayer request time at school. One of her classmate's mom's told Leah that they prayed for Drew as a family the night before surgery. I was so touched to know that these children were burdened to cover Drew in prayer. That was a tremendous comfort to me! It was also such a good lesson for Drew. I told him that God heard his name literally hundreds of times that day. His sweet smile showed that he was comforted, too. :)
Several people brought Drew gifts the night before surgery. It was like Christmas morning for that boy - new pajamas, books, snacks, popsicles, ice cream, ice cream money, a DS game, coloring books, stickers, candy, and a movie. I overheard Drew talking to one of his friends that had dropped off a bag of goodies. He said, "Eric, don't you wish you were having surgery tomorrow? It's so cool!" Ha! I was so grateful that the generosity of others made Drew feel excited rather than scared about his procedure.
My father-in-law was so very kind to come into town to help us the day of surgery and the following day. What a blessing that was! Grammie had a previous commitment, so she wasn't able to come. She sent a big bag of fun, though. ;)
We had to be at the surgery center at 6am, so we left our house at 5:30. So early! I was having flashbacks of the last time that I took Drew in for tubes in February 2010. He was so tiny! I pulled up these pictures on my phone on the way to the surgery center. Love that sweet baby!
The Cook's Surgery Center is awesome! They let Drew pick out a fun hat as soon as we got there. Just a small thing, but it made him feel really special. :)
He picked out a cowboy hat. They also let him bring his security blanket and a stuffed animal (Darth Puppy). ;)
The cowboy hat was cool, but it couldn't top the Flipeez hat that Grammie got him.
This boy will never be able to comprehend just how much his Mama loves him.
About 20 minutes before they took Drew back, they gave him some "giggle juice" so that he wouldn't be afraid. Oh my word - it was hilarious! He started calling his hospital gown his "poncho." He thought that the light from the pulse ox on his finger was hysterical, and he made the funniest faces. Wade and I were crying from laughter. "Giggle juice" sure lived up to its name!
It would suit me just fine if I never had to see a hospital bracelet and pulse ox on any of my children ever again. Sigh.
Right before they took Drew back, he said, "Surgery is awesome! I want to come here everyday!" Ha! I was soooo thankful that he wasn't fearful! Praise the Lord for oral Versed! The lady that took him back was so sweet. She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Thank you so much for letting me take care of Drew" with such sincerity. I could cry just thinking about how those words put me at ease. I knew that my boy was going to be well cared for in my absence.
Dr. Noell said that Drew did great in surgery! She said that he had a ton of thick fluid behind his eardrum, and that he should be able to hear much better without all of that gunk. Unfortunately, he was pretty sad when he woke up from anesthesia, so they came and got us a bit earlier than expected. We could hear him crying from the waiting room - talking about heart breaking! I couldn't get back there fast enough! Sweet boy calmed down quickly and even fell asleep while he was eating a popsicle. Bless him.
After a popsicle and some apple juice, he was discharged to go home. We were back home by 10:00! I couldn't believe how smoothly everything went and how quickly we were done. So grateful for that!
Drew's post-op course was completely uneventful, which was a happy surprise! I had been warned about nosebleeds that lasted for weeks and pain. I offered him Tylenol several times, and he always said he didn't need it. His nose never bled once! He was bee-bopping around the house like usual by that afternoon. I could not believe how well he did! I was prepared for the worst, so I was thrilled with the result of best case scenario. Drew went back for his post-op appointment on February 20th. Dr. Noell said that his ears and nose looked great! He also passed his hearing screen with flying colors! Praise the Lord! I am glad to know that Drew is getting the full benefit of hearing at preschool and at home. :)
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