Ear Tube Surgery

Today was the day that our little guy got tubes in his ears. With any kind of surgery, I was nervous and scared, but also hopeful for the results (no more ear infections and closing the gap with his speech/language delay). We stayed with some friends last night that live in St. Louis so we would be that much closer to the hospital. We had to check-in this morning at 6:30am for an 8:15am surgery time. Since Wade couldn't eat or drink anything before his surgery, he was sucking away on those fingers. 

Luckily, they had a play room area for kiddos while they're waiting for surgery. After asking if the toys are clean and sanitized, we let Wade play to distract him from being hungry. Wade fell in love with a "Cars" car in the play room. Wade even made a friend, Collin, in the play room who was one month younger than him getting tubes in his ears too. (Collins parents thought Wade was really young since he's "so small" but they were probably shocked to find out that Wade is actually older).

After some good playing time, Wade received his dose of tylenol/codone. A few moments later, the anesthesiologist team came in and asked a few questions, then took Wade away for surgery. (Although sad, I didn't cry, and neither did Wade!) Adam and I stayed in the room and watched TV until his Otolaryngologist came in to talk to us. She explained to us that surgery went great and that there was thick fluid in each ear, so he was definitely in need of the tubes. She also said to schedule a clinic appoint for 4-6 weeks from now. 


Adam and I kept waiting until we finally received a phone call in our room. It was the nurse in the recovery room and she told us that Wade had woke up and we could come see him. We grabbed our bags and headed for the double doors for the recovery room. As soon as those doors opened, I heard a baby crying and I knew it was Wade (a mother knows). I instantly grabbed Wade from the nurse's arms and tried to calm him down. I could tell that Wade was confused and his eyes weren't even opened yet. He smelled of the gas anesthesia and he was coughing and throwing his head back. (To my surprise, he did not have oxygen on and his stats were great!) After about 10 minutes of jumping between mommy's arms to daddy's arms and no luck of Wade calming down, the nurse gave him more codone and some gas drops. They said to walk around with him and after about 15 minutes of walking around the Same Day Surgery floor, he finally calmed down.


We went back to our room and I tried to get him to eat something. Once I got his cue of finger-sucking, I fed him a bottle. A couple minutes later, a nurse came in to collect his vitals. As soon as she walked in the room, Wade perked up from laying on my chest and giggled at the nurse. I was completely surprised at how fast it was for Wade to laugh and flirt as if he had never had surgery. Here it was, less than an hour after his surgery, and he was back to his normal self. (This was a completely different experience from his bone marrow biopsy back in December.)


After instructions of how to use ear drops and signing some paperwork, we were discharged at 10:00am. We left the hospital and headed home. Since arriving home, Wade re-visited with his kitties, played with some toys, and is now napping.

Although nervous before his surgery, I am very pleased at how well Wade did today. I pray that he no longer has ear infections and that his speech/language skills will improve soon. Thank you to everyone who thought or prayed for Wade today that his surgery went well. Prayers are very powerful and always welcome!