Wacked! Jakie's Tonsils & Adenoids Are Gonners!

Jacob is now only a portion of the kid he once was. In a good way though. His adenoids and tonsils were wreaking havoc on his ability to speak, sleep and definitely breathe. I took him to the Dr. at the end of November and our awesome Pediatric E.N.T. Dr. Alpar said that there was no question that the adenoids had to go. The tonsils were not definite because the X-Rays could not tell us if they were problematic while Jacob slept.

We decided to go ahead with the surgery so, on December 2nd (since we already met the years deductible) we took Jacob in to have the procedure (maybe plural if the tonsils were going to come out) done at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Jacob was actually pretty well prepared since we did not want to lie to him. We told him that he would stop gagging everyday on the mucus that could not escape past the adenoids and that he would be able to breathe. He was excited about that but unsure about pain. We promised him that we would be with him and that although it would hurt, it would not be terrible. He just kind of said okay and was fine with it. I think the prospect of gagging every day and no breathing was enough for him to be willing.

We got to the hospital on the 2nd at 6:30am and headed up to the sign in area. The staff was so nice and Jacob loved that they talked to him on his level. We hung out for a bit before being called back to get all changed and ready for his prep. He was excited to lay in a bed in his undies and watch TV (very normal for him). Then, all of the staff came in to go over things with him and unlike most children, he loved it. He talked to every person that came in and wanted to know exactly what all of their equipment did. Everyone was wonderful with him and it really made such a difference.

Thank came sedation time. Ever seen your child on a sedative? I did once when Jake broke his arm a few years ago and it is so weird to see them so out of it. I must say though, this time it was quite different. I can remember what they gave him but out of no where he immediately starts acting strange. He first started laughing in with his head scrunched into his shoulders that were shrugged up (kinda Grinch like). Then, he made funny noises and laughed about them to himself. Then he got really mellow and wide eyed and repeated everything we said. Finally, he started belly laughing about everything. We all laughed with him but as they took him down the hall to the OR, rick said that he got really super giddy and everyone laughed. The anesthesiologist said that she usually gives the red heads extra sedation (with a wink) but that Jake was a great patient that just laughed on the meds.

He was in surgery for about 1 & 1/2 hours and I figured that they had decided to take out the tonsils since the adenoids are only a 45 minute surgery. They called us back to see Jake after he had been in recover for about 20 minutes and he was laying peacefully sleeping. Most kids come out of anesthesia badly (they told us), but Jake just laid there quietly and drank juice when offered it. His time in the recovery area was spent quietly watching a show or looking at a book they offered him. Towards the end of the recovery time he was able to get up and go poke around a play area offered in the children's recovery wing.

It took quite a few hours to get cleared to go home, but we packed it up at about 5pm and headed home to get Ricky from our friends house. We were all glad to be headed home by then and Jake was ready for his medication.

It has now been 6 days since the surgery and he is doing really well. His throat still hurts when the pain medication wears off, but his combination of self taught sign language, ice cream and Popsicles help. See if you can guess these:

This one below is POPSICLES:

Ricky is loving Jake's surgery thought because when Jake gets a treat, he gets one. Gotta love little brothers! Ricky wants to say hi:

Back to Jake. So far, Jake is much better in the day, but nights are still hard for him. He wakes up in a lot of pain so I am looking forward to it all being back to normal at some point. He is out of school until next week and enjoying the movies and will, so I hope we can get him back on track at some point!

This is gross to look at, but here is a picture of what the adenoids look like. The circle is the passage way and the big ball in the center is the adenoid. These are the main reason for his snoring, apnea, constant congestion and gagging. The Dr. Said they were blocking between 90-100% of the passage flow. That means air and all. Poor Kid! Glad those suckers are out!