Since Jack was little he was a heavy snorer. On and off it would occur to me that maybe this wasn't normal. When he would fall asleep in the car, I would notice that he would snore and sometimes gasp loudly in his sleep. It was something I noticed but didn't think to mention to our pediatrician. He never got strep or had problems with his throat or ears.
On our recent trip out west, it came to my attention and on a wellness visit right after the trip I mentioned it to our pediatrician. She immediately said his tonsils were probably too big and referred us to an ENT. She used words like tonsillectomy and two-week recovery and small chance of a hemorrhage. It freaked Jack out a bit.
We got an immediate appointment with the ENT of our choice. Jack was nervous but I told him he could ask any questions he wanted, or if he was too nervous he could tell me and I would ask. The ENT put us at ease right away. He spoke to Jack and asked him what was going on and Jack told about the snoring since he was little, the gasping in his sleep, how he is often tired the next day. The doctor joked that Jack didn't even need us there since he was so adept at communicating. The ENT agreed with our PED that the tonsils needed to come out. He said kids should never snore like that. My only regret is that I didn't bring it up sooner.
We saw the ENT on a Friday and had surgery scheduled for the following Wednesday. The doctor's office said they didn't require a covid test for surgery but that the hospital might. The hospital did, so we had to run in early Monday morning for that test. Thankfully covid tests are very benign these days compared to the brain swab they were doing last year. Jack's covid test came back negative and we proceeded with surgery Wednesday morning. We had to arrive at 7:30am for some blood work and prepping with the anesthesiologist.
The
boy's Grandpa and Abuela Moore came to hang out with Isaac for the
morning and Daniel was able to join Jack and I before surgery got
underway. Isaac enjoyed time with grandparents, including going out for Mexican and getting to eat some of his favorite foods. He definitely milked all of the ice cream and popsicles that Jack would get during this ordeal – he is a sympathy eater for sure!
Funny story: I used the valet parking that the Children's Hospital offered. The attendant gave me a ticket that he said I would need to pick up my car. After Jack and I got settled into the hospital room I realized I didn't have that ticket any more. I frantically checked the waiting room and then asked a nurse to come sit with Jack while I retraced my steps from the morning. I checked all the elevators and went back outside. I remembered stopping at a bench before going inside and sure enough, that ticket was on the ground under the bench OUTSIDE! I took it to the attendant to confirm that it was actually my ticket. Thankfully it was. I was really sweating the possibility that someone might have found the ticket and stolen our car!
Once I had the ticket in hand, I tucked it into my wallet and went back upstairs to sit with Jack and wait for Daniel. Daniel was a gem and brought me coffee. Shortly after the nurse brought Jack some "silly juice" or medicine to start chilling him out for the anesthesia. He got pretty loopy. He kept laughing uncontrollably and telling us that his arms felt heavy like he was on the planet Mars where gravity is stronger. Then he started to sing to us. Later he would tell us he remembered all the silliness.
Surgery went really quickly. I think the actually surgery lasted about ten minutes. They removed both his tonsils and adenoids. The doctor came back to talk to us and said all was well. It was about thirty minutes before they wheeled him back to us. He was still groggy and slept for about an hour and a half before waking up. We got him to drink apple juice, a mashed up popsicle and Gatorade and then they said he was good to go.
We had strict instructions to alternate tylenol and ibuprofen around the clock, every three hours, for the first seven days. The doctor said days 4-7 would be the worst. Once home Jack was in good spirits. He ate lots of ice cream and popsicles. Several friends brought him goodie bags to help him stay distracted. We let him play video games and watch movies.
He was very concerned about not getting to play outside for two whole weeks. We made him skip his cub scouts camp out, but we did agree to let him go to a friend's birthday party as long as he promised not to get his heart rate up. He enjoyed fishing and wading in the lake and finishing the day by the campfire.
True to the doctor's notes, Sunday through Tuesday were the worst for Jack. He didn't want to eat or drink anything, not even the medicine. We really had to coax and explain how important it was to stay hydrated. He was tired of sugary food and boycotted just about everything.
I called the ENT on Tuesday and they said this would be the worst of it and that he would probably suddenly feel better when the scabs in his throat fell off. They did call in a prescription steroid (one-time dose) that seemed to help him. On Wednesday morning he woke up and he really did feel significantly better, just like they said.
Wednesday afternoon we went to Ben & Jerry's to celebrate that he was feeling better. In the coming days he really struggled to force himself to eat. It was like he was traumatized and scared it would hurt even though he felt better. We finally explained that he wouldn't be able to do swim team if he didn't start eating calories. We don't want him focused on calorie counting, but you have to have energy to do things like swimming. Our skinny boy was even skinnier by the end of those two weeks post surgery. He has now bounced back and is eating normally again and no longer in any pain. He no longer snores and seemed to feel better overall.
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