Today's adenoid removal was Ayden Jane's first surgery, first time under anesthesia. We went in prepared for all things but expecting things to go well. Here is our day.
We left home about 5:45 to head to Charleston. No breakfast, no drinks and well prepared that they would not come until we were all done. Ayden Jane asked me maybe twice, "I can't eat anything, right?" It was a bit of a hopeful plea but she did not argue at all with the answer, no. Big hurdle covered.
She was not scared and entertained herself well. I laughed as the doctors and nurses came in and introduced themselves. "Hi my name is Dr. ________." AJ: "what's your whole name? What do you like to do when you are not here working..." It seems that Ayden Jane felt that since everyone felt free to ask her questions, she should feel free to interview them!
She chatted and made pictures with stickers and markers and was great in pre op. When it was time to go back she didn't flinch and rode away without a care. (insert, hey! won't you be a little worried without me?)
I went to the waiting room and hung out. Well, after I ate some breakfast! I really liked the big board they have up where you can sort of watch the progress. Okay, not actually watch! When I first looked she was in transport. After a bit, it showed up that she was "proceedure in progress". When I saw PACU I knew it was soon time for them to come for me. It's not much, but it is great to have that tiny bit of info as they go.
Afterwards, Ayden Jane woke up fine, just a little slow. Dr. White came by to talk about how things went. I have to pause for a public service announcement. Dr. White is AWESOME. He is great with AJ, me, knows his stuff and was happy to talk to Dr. Miller before surgery. His first report was that Ayden Jane's adenoids were "quite large". It may sound crazy but this was music to my ears! As the day approached, I started to wonder if I had been imagining some of the trouble. If maybe the adenoids were not a part of the problem and I was putting AJ through this for no reason... If the adenoids had not been too big then hopes that removing them would help would sort of no longer exist.
Dr. White explained that he took most of the adenoids but left a flap or slice of each so that her speech would not be diminished. He had spoken with Dr. Miller and referenced their conversation as he told me that there might be a change in her pitch, but that was normal. The trouble could come in if the adenoid removal impaired her ability to produce certain sounds. He told me to let him know if there is any decrease in the intelligibility of her speech. It was just so great to see/hear him very concerned that not only were the adenoids out, but that he had taken care to be sure the surgery was as effective as possible.
When AJ was awake enough to be released we headed on home. All she could talk about was going to the Wendy's by church. It was 2 hours away from where we were, but Ayden Jane fell sound asleep in the car and woke up close to home. Again, "I want to go to Wendy's by church." It is pretty funny because we just don't really go there much. I went for it and she literally ate chicken and pecans! After we got home she went about playing and was loud and crazy and no one would have known the day she had.
No way to predict what this kid is gonna do.
We left home about 5:45 to head to Charleston. No breakfast, no drinks and well prepared that they would not come until we were all done. Ayden Jane asked me maybe twice, "I can't eat anything, right?" It was a bit of a hopeful plea but she did not argue at all with the answer, no. Big hurdle covered.
She was not scared and entertained herself well. I laughed as the doctors and nurses came in and introduced themselves. "Hi my name is Dr. ________." AJ: "what's your whole name? What do you like to do when you are not here working..." It seems that Ayden Jane felt that since everyone felt free to ask her questions, she should feel free to interview them!
She chatted and made pictures with stickers and markers and was great in pre op. When it was time to go back she didn't flinch and rode away without a care. (insert, hey! won't you be a little worried without me?)
I went to the waiting room and hung out. Well, after I ate some breakfast! I really liked the big board they have up where you can sort of watch the progress. Okay, not actually watch! When I first looked she was in transport. After a bit, it showed up that she was "proceedure in progress". When I saw PACU I knew it was soon time for them to come for me. It's not much, but it is great to have that tiny bit of info as they go.
Afterwards, Ayden Jane woke up fine, just a little slow. Dr. White came by to talk about how things went. I have to pause for a public service announcement. Dr. White is AWESOME. He is great with AJ, me, knows his stuff and was happy to talk to Dr. Miller before surgery. His first report was that Ayden Jane's adenoids were "quite large". It may sound crazy but this was music to my ears! As the day approached, I started to wonder if I had been imagining some of the trouble. If maybe the adenoids were not a part of the problem and I was putting AJ through this for no reason... If the adenoids had not been too big then hopes that removing them would help would sort of no longer exist.
Dr. White explained that he took most of the adenoids but left a flap or slice of each so that her speech would not be diminished. He had spoken with Dr. Miller and referenced their conversation as he told me that there might be a change in her pitch, but that was normal. The trouble could come in if the adenoid removal impaired her ability to produce certain sounds. He told me to let him know if there is any decrease in the intelligibility of her speech. It was just so great to see/hear him very concerned that not only were the adenoids out, but that he had taken care to be sure the surgery was as effective as possible.
When AJ was awake enough to be released we headed on home. All she could talk about was going to the Wendy's by church. It was 2 hours away from where we were, but Ayden Jane fell sound asleep in the car and woke up close to home. Again, "I want to go to Wendy's by church." It is pretty funny because we just don't really go there much. I went for it and she literally ate chicken and pecans! After we got home she went about playing and was loud and crazy and no one would have known the day she had.
No way to predict what this kid is gonna do.
That's wonderful to hear that the surgery went so well!!
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