Surgery

I'm hoping this first surgery is the last for our little guy (or girl)! Noah had his adenoids taken out this morning at Central DuPage Hospital. We have known his adenoids were enlarged since he was 3 months old when he had a nasal scope done to make sure his laryngomylacia was cleared. Since then he's been on antibiotics 5 times all because he could never get rid of his colds without them infecting his adenoids/sinuses. I took him to a pediatric ear nose and throat specialist a couple of weeks ago and she said the adenoids were definitely enlarged (almost completely filling his whole space above his soft palate). 2 options were to either continue using antibiotics to clear things up when he get's colds or to take them out. Being such a simple procedure we decided the later. Don't get me wrong... I knew there are risks involved with anesthesia and surgery but we prayed a lot about it and felt that it was the right thing to do for his health.

All dressed for surgery and ready to go!

For those who aren't familiar with the adenoids... they are located right above the soft palate and help to fight infection (ironic in his case) until they shrink when a person get's older. Most adults don't have them. When they're enlarged kids with have difficulty breathing through their nose, get frequent infections (sinus and ear), and it can interrupt sleep.
So surgery was scheduled for 7 am this morning. I woke him up and we arrived by 6am, were brought back to get him ready, and he was given "the happy drug - Versed" to relax him. Noah wanted so badly for me to walk him up and down the hall and he happily followed another 15 month old who was there. As he was walking I slowly felt his arms become more floppy and his legs started to give out a little more often. He definitely was feeling the effects. Then the anesthesiologist whisked him away (without even a fuss from our little separation anxiety prone guy). It was literally not even 20 minutes after that I was told he was done and waited to speak with the doctor! Turns out Noah did great and the adenoids were occluding about 3/4 of the airway! No wonder he always mouth breaths!
Poor guy cried heavily for the first 20 minutes after they brought him to me... that was hard. Once the anesthesia started to wear off he snapped out of it pretty quickly and started to drink apple juice and eat cheerios! He started to act himself pretty quickly and before I knew it they removed his IV and sent us home! We were in the car 2 & 1/2 hours after the surgery started. Best thing is there's really nothing I need to change in regards to his diet and pain should be minimal. Overall - SO happy we decided to do the surgery!!! Praise God for such a seamless experience!

Our walk only hours after surgery. Happy boy that he's able to eat and drink!!!