Tonsillectomy

Last week I didn't write about the fact that Addie was having her tonsils and adenoids removed because, well, I wasn't convinced that she was. She was supposed to have surgery the first week in December, but of course had a lovely case of walking pneumonia. The pneumonia went away, but her phlegmy, gross cough hung around. I, foolishly, thought that her cough would prevent her from having her surgery.

I was wrong. Her pediatrician gave us the green light early in the week and the hospital staff seemed relatively unfazed by her hack.

An hour after arriving at Children's Hospital she was heading to the operating room, riding her "princess wagon" and waving to the surgeons and nurses as though she were royalty and they were her commoners.
She had no problem letting the nurses take her temperature, blood pressure and various other vital signs. She was excited to be wearing the hospital gown and no-slip socks and was looking forward to bubblegum flavored "sleepy air" and a wheel chair ride out to the car.

Andy and I went with her as she got put under - she was very busy telling the nurses and doctors about her favorite princesses and her trip to Disney World when her eyes went real wide and then she was out - somehow I managed not cry, although my entire chest was tight and breathing seemed a difficult task.

We headed out to the waiting room, with it's watered down coffee and anxious parents, and prepared for a long, tense hour. Luckily for us, twenty minutes later we were sitting with the surgeon being told everything was okay.

It took Addie about an hour to come out of recovery - at first awakening very unhappy, but then being enticed to sit up with the promise of a Sprite and a Popsicle. Less than four hours after walking into the hospital, we were driving away, minus one set of tonsils and one set of adenoids.

And since Thursday she and I have more or less been cooped up together - playing games, watching movies, doing crafts. Thankfully Andy took Thursday and Friday off to entertain us. She has logged a gazillion hours of cuddle time with both Andy and I, and I am pretty sure neither of us really need to see another animated movie again. It doesn't help that since coming home from the hospital she hasn't slept through the night and has come into our room crying because of the soreness in her throat.

Her favorite things to eat have been Popsicles, sherbert and macaroni and cheese. She is currently in her room pouting because I insisted she eat apple sauce and peaches. She got mad, stomped her feet and said "I only want sherbert!". Andy and I are pretty sure that the 10 days of recovery time are going to undo three years of solid parenting.

She isn't allowed to go back to 'normal' activities until Monday - no school, no craft class, no exercise class. It would be a massive understatement to say that both she and I are going a tad stir crazy.

I didn't realize how much pain she'd be in and didn't take seriously that recovery would be 7 to 10 days...but we're on day five and the bottle of Tylenol is almost gone and there are still plenty of tears and ouchies and general grouchiness (I think we both are feeling a bit grouchy) to go around.