About a week before the surgery, Landon started running a fever and had a sore throat! Another case of tonsillitis! He had to start on an antibiotic so he could even HAVE the surgery on schedule! This particular antibiotic he had never been on, and of course, he got the diarrhea side effect! Poor guy!!
On August 5th, we reported to Marshall Browning a little before 7am. We bought Landon a Lego Batman shirt especially for this "occasion" and his excitement to wear it made the morning a little better! He was so brave: he hopped right up in the hospital bed and listened to all the nurse and anesthesiologist had to say. The nurse gave him his gown and we went to the bathroom to put it on. Only then did he admit to being scared. When he put his arms in the gown, he said "I think I'm a little too scared for this." That, of course, broke my heart, but I kept my "brave mom" face on. (Which was good practice for taking Kayla to SEMO a couple of weeks later!)
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We got to sit with him for a little while and watch tv. (His room had an awesome tv that swiveled any way he needed it to be comfortable and he could put it as close to his face as he wanted!!) When the nurse came and said it was time for him to go, we kissed him goodbye and they wheeled him away. It was the saddest thing!
About an hour and a half later, the nurse (Kathy) came to the w aiting room and said he was all done! She said he did very well, but he had vomited once, which is normal. The sweet, happy little boy who was wheeled away was replaced by a sad, sleepy little boy who felt horrible! But he was still watching his TV :) and drinking ice water! I didn't feel very well watching him be so sick, and when the dr. came to talk to me, I said "I'm not feeling so good." He called for the nurse to bring him a bed because he had a mom passing out! Oh my gosh, I was so embarrassed!! I could feel myself passing out, although I never did. No, I was awake enough to be humiliated! The nurse and dr. who were SUPPOSED to be taking care of Landon were now standing beside MY bed, taking my pulse and bringing me juice and toast. Oh Lord, just let me disappear!! So after a reasonable "rest" I hopped back up and resumed caring for the REAL patient! (By the way, I attribute my fainting spell to exhaustion and worry, I am not usually that weak!!)
He had a pretty slow recovery, I believe mostly due to the diarrhea that he had before the surgery combined with the vomiting (he vomited approximately 15 times that day, and again 2 or 3 times the next day). I am glad someone told me beforehand what his throat would look like for several days, or there may have been a repeat of my fainting!! It is extremely gross!! He was put on extremely soft foods for at least a week. Landon has NEVER liked ice cream, so we grew pretty weary of the well-meaning people congratulating him on a week full of ice cream!! I got tired of telling them he doesn't like ice cream, milkshakes, popsicles...so I started just nodding and smiling!! The first thing he asked for was a bologna sandwich!! And he couldn't wait to eat chicken mcnuggets!! He tried to eat a cheeseburger at one week post-op (recommended by the dr.) but he just couldn't do it!!
It has been a little over two weeks since his surgery and he is back to his normal self!! He is eating everything in sight, I'm sure catching up for those weeks he couldn't!! (I also am eating everything in sight...not sure why...moral support maybe?!?!) I am so proud of him, he was an excellent patient! Now hopefully he will never suffer with sore throats again (and would it be too much to hope that this will clear up his ear problem too?)
