They call it T&A surgery...Really!

So here we are in recovery 7 hours after Jack's tonsillectomy & adnoidectomy. The surgery went well. We were in shock when the doctor came back in 20 minutes after we left them. Jack on "goofy juice" was just as silly as he is without it, but he didn't mind the goodbye as they wheeled him into surgery. It was all done in 20 minutes. They called us back to post op so we could be there when he woke up from surgery. Coming out of anethesia can be rough, but he slept through it. Thankfully! Otherwise it's general mahem: fits, crying, vomiting..yeah for none of that! We thought the hard part was over and we somehow got out easy.

Fast forward 7 hours: (Mindy is having a flashback from last week: "I cannot express to you more to be on top of the pain meds, and the nausea medication. Otherwise if it hurts going down the first time you'll never get it down him." -nurse from ENT's office)
That's all fine and good, but we're having to rely on the nurses at the hospital to bring it to us. We missed the window the first time and it hurt going down, so now not even a spoon full of sugar will help this medicine go down! Poor little thing. So now starts the mahem...fits, screaming, crying, spitting medicine out, and yes even wanting to vomit. Poor little thing.

However, I know that this is routine and it's not open heart surgery. There can be minor complications, but we have so much to be grateful for. A little perspective -flashback to this morning- while we were waiting for Jack to come out of the anethesia, a couple came in to wait on their son to come out of anethesia. He was a baby, not more than 5 months old, although he was covered up so I can't be sure of his age, he was still little enough to fit in a carrier car seat. He had major reconstructive surgery from a cleft lip and palate. Neither of his parent spoke any English and there was noone there to translate for them.

When we walked in and saw Jack just after surgery he was snoring very heavily, even gasping for breath, but the nurse could tell me, "That's normal, the snoring will go away once the swelling goes down." And then while I watched him fight to catch his breath I could say, "So you're sure this is normal?" to the nurse who could then reassure me, "Yes it is. He's ok."

But this sweet couple didn't have that luxury. They could look at their swollen little baby, with his new swollen stitches, and hear his cries knowing he was in pain and scared, but not hear from the nurses, "This is normal, he's going to be ok." That broke my heart, not to mention that sweet little momma who was seeing her sweet baby's new face for the first time, hearing his cries, and not knowing if he was ok. I went to her and put my arms around her, her husband holding their baby with tear in his eyes telling her in Spanish, "He's ok mama, he's ok." I can't imagine what she was going through, but my heart went out to her, and brought my heart lots of perspective.

It's just a little T&A surgery. That's what they call it here. No. I'm not kidding. We've got a few days of irritability, crying, general unhappiness. Worst case scenario we'll be back at the hospital if Jack gets dehydrated. This couple has atleast 2 more major surgeries, and from what I know about those surgeries the mother will have to inflict pain on her baby as she rubs his lips between her fingers to keep him from too much scar tissue. It has to hurt if it's to heal.

Perspective.