T-Day

I haven't blogged in months. Today's as good a day as any (or maybe a better day than any) to pick it up again. But not better as in, "Woohoo! Excitement! Happiness! Thrilling event!" Today Elise had her tonsillectomy. She's been looking forward to this day for weeks. Over the past few days she's even been playing hospital and acting out being sick. She's taught her brother everything she knew about having tonsils removed. After today she'll have a few more things to teach him.

The surgery center actually called us this morning just moments after she was out of bed and asked if we could come in early. So we were off and running. Shawn got to go play with Grama this morning so Mark and I could both attend the surgery. The first part was boring . . . signing paperwork, paying, etc. Then they took us back and Elise got to put on hospital pajamas. Not just a gown. There were cute little scrub-type pants that matched. She even got little booties and a lovely blue shower cap to wear. Then she got to sit in this huge recliner chair while one nurse, then the doctor, then the anesthesiologist than another nurse came and talked to her. I was really surprised though when we didn't get to stay with her while she was put under. The nurse just said, "Okay come with me," and she led Elise off without us getting to say, "Good-bye," or give her a hug. Well it went very quickly and soon the doctor was out in the waiting room calling us back. Everything went well he said. She did have huge tonsils and he's sure we'll see an improvement with her snoring at night. Just another quick wait in the waiting room and we were escorted back to see her. She was already awake and asking for us. My poor little bug was trudging along with two nurses and an IV pole. She just wanted to curl up in my lap and the first thing she said was, "It hurts really bad!" Then for the next 45 minutes she just dosed in and out of conciseness, coming to when she felt like she was going to throw up and after no success with that, she'd go back to sleep.

We are back home way ahead of schedule and she's sleeping again. The odd thing is, she's snoring really well! Hmmm . . . Mark says it's just from the swelling after surgery. I think I might need to get a flashlight and look in there to make sure they're really gone. :)

Now the challenge is keeping her pain level down and her body well hydrated. Our kitchen is well armed with Strawberry Quick, green Gatorade, Chrystal Light, Popsicles, jell-o, and juice. Hopefully there is something in there that will appeal to her enough to keep her out of a hydration clinic. The doctor's challenge to her at her pre-op appointment last week was to keep her urine clear. Prior to surgery she was paying attention to this. We'll see later today if she even cares about her clear pee as much as she did yesterday.

Thanks for the prayers and well wishes from everyone!