Landon's Tonsillectomy and the Night from Hades

Landon had his tonsils removed yesterday morning.  His surgery was scheduled for 10:15 and they ask that you arrive one hour prior.  After receiving the paperwork stating that he shouldn't have anything to eat after 3am and anything to drink after 5am, I wondered if I shouldn't have taken an earlier slot.  What if he got up and drank something?  What if the girls handed him something to share before I noticed?  The 9:15 arrival turned out to be perfect.  Landon slept clear through until I woke him up at 8:40.  He wasn't too thrilled about being woken up and I ended up having to dress him myself to make it out the door by 9.

Bless James's mom, she offered to watch the kids a few weeks ago.  I had already had a friend lined up to watch the girls, but she ended up moving out to the east side of town and I really didn't think I was going to be able to make a 40-minute drive round trip to drop kids off and still make it on time.  So when Mom offered, how could I refuse?  This turned out to be very fortuitous.  She has watched Timmy before as well and, since our house isn't far from the surgery center, I figured that I would still be kind of nearby in the case of an emergency so I was able to leave not only the girls but Timmy as well.

We checked in around 9:15.  There was a cute little singing snowman and reindeer on the reception shelf that helped put Landon a little at ease.  He didn't want to put on the ID bracelet but, after letting me draw something that looked vaguely like a snowman on it, he was okay with letting the receptionist put it on.  We then went to the toy room.  There was another little boy there with his mom and grandmother so Landon clung to me.  We read a few books - including a Q-Bert riddle book.  I'm not sure how old it is, but I remember playing Q-Bert on our Intellivision.  Didn't think they made anything with him anymore!

Landon was taken back to the preop area around 9:45.  He wasn't going to have anything to do with the cute little tiger gown they had for him, but he found the pulse oximeter highly entertaining and we made squiggly lines on the screen for at least 10 minutes while we waited for his turn in the operatory.  Both Dr. Parry and Dr. Patel, the anesthesiologist, came by.  No one seemed the least bit concerned with what Landon was and was not willing to do as far as getting dressed or wanting to sit on the bed.  (He did end up climbing up on the bed to get a better view of the screen to watch his squiggly lines.)  One of the nurses told Landon he could have a popsicle when he was finished with his surgery.  He tried to follow her right away but I told him he had to wait until after his turn.  So we spent some time deciding what color.  Obviously I didn't know what our options were, but it was a fun way to pass a few minutes.  He started with blue and ended up with pink.  Whatever.

When they were ready, Dr. Patel came and got him.  Literally.  He explained that it's easier for him to just take the child from his mother's arms and carry him back, so that's what he did.  I can see that.  Trying to convince Landon to go with him (or anyone else, for that matter) would most likely have ended up in quite a scene.  I just hope he didn't bite or scratch.  Although I'm sure they've seen it all.

I spent the next 20 minutes or so practicing my speed reading in the waiting room.  (Seriously.  Just no time for reading these days but I miss it.  Need to get Mom's book back but I want to finish it first.)  Dr. Parry then came out and told me that they had removed six pounds of stuff.  I asked if he was serious and he said it was honestly about that.  Landon's adenoids were as bad as his tonsils and, with everything being as big as they could possibly be, it was really a good thing that he was getting them out.

I waited another 10 minutes before I was taken back to the recovery area.  Landon was in the arms of one of the nurses.  The nurse escorting me told me that when Landon had first woken up from the anesthesia, he had stretched his arms out to one of the nurses, realized it wasn't his mom and reached for the next nurse, only to realize that she wasn't his mom either.  It was nice to get him in my arms, still groggy, but looking good.  He slept for a few minutes and woke up coughing.  Which, after the time we ended up spending in recovery, I discovered is the norm.  The throat is irritated from the breathing tube and from the surgery itself.  Landon wouldn't take any water and tried to rip the IV out of his left hand.  He was fighting hard and his O2 sats started dropping into the 70s.  They finally had to sedate him to get him to calm down.  He slept for another 15 minutes or so and then we had a repeat.

Overall, he had a hard time recovering.  He didn't want to drink and didn't want to keep the IV in his hand.  Nor did he want the bandage on his hand when the nurse finally was able to remove it.  I had been taken back to the recovery area shortly before 11, thinking we would be home before lunch.  (The paperwork said that recovery is usually about an hour, up to two.)  As it turned out, we weren't able to leave until almost 2.  I sat with Landon on the bed for over an hour.  Due to his violent outbursts and having to be sedated and then having the anesthesiologist have to administer Narcan to rouse him again, they kept him for observation for an extra hour.  He slept in my arms the entire time, waking up briefly to throw up on me and then went back to sleep.

To me - aside from the benefits that come once they have fully recovered, that's the perk of having your kids undergo surgery - the extra snuggles.  Believe me, I was VERY glad that I hadn't taken Timmy with me.  Not sure how that would have worked.  It was nice to have some one-on-one time with Landon.  I love snuggling my kids and know that that sad day will come when they're too old and/or too big to snuggle on my lap.  The nurses were wonderful, even letting me in on their secret chocolate stash!  Robin helped me carry everything out to the car so I could carry Landon.  So nice.

Landon spent most of yesterday asleep on the couch.  He woke up for a little bit and I tried to see if he would take anything - a fair amount of apple juice (of course, it had to be refilled in the little can they gave him) and one bite of pudding.  It all kept coming back up, but literally everyone we talked to told me that hydration is the most important part of Landon's recovery.  He can go a few days without eating anything, but we need to push the liquids as much as possible.

He stayed up late last night with me.  I think I finally got Timmy down around 10 and then was able to snuggle Landon again.  Everyone else was already asleep.  I put in Cars and we watched for a while, then I decided to seize the moment and start ordering Christmas presents.  I've been getting a little stressed lately because James had had so much going on that there hasn't been any time where either of us could get any Christmas shopping done.  I really do love being able to order things online.  I think I got about half of my gifts ordered and then, as it was approaching 1am and both of us were exhausted, I determined it was time for Landon and me to hit the hay.  Apparently someone else had other ideas.  I don't recall the exact course of events, but, in a nutshell, Landon and Timmy tag-teamed all night with one waking the other up.  I watched the hours tick by as we tried bed-hopping - Mom's bed, Landon's bed, the makeshift bed on the floor of Timmy's room...  By 5am, I was beside myself with exhaustion and both boys were awake.  I came out to the kitchen for water and saw through the windows the most beautiful pre-dawn fog.  It didn't severely limit visibility, but I could only see to the trees on the streets to the north and south of us.  Kind of neat to get to see, but hard to truly appreciate when you've been awake so long and have kids awake who don't seem to care.

I have wondered, on occasion, what drives a parent to shake their child, to beat their child.  I wouldn't doubt that severe sleep deprivation may play a part.  Landon fell asleep on his own bed shortly after 5 and, since Timmy had napped early for my mother-in-law (I think he went down around 10:30), I knew he had to be exhausted.  I think he was beyond the beyond, as I like to say.  He would suddenly flop down on the bed, like he'd fallen asleep and then pop back up and cry.  And pull my hair.  Try as I might, I could not console the lad and get him to fall asleep.  So, when Landon woke up again and came back in, I was definitely at the breaking point, desperate for sleep.  James came in not long after around 6 and I asked him to give Timmy a bottle and see if he could get him to sleep.  No such luck.  He didn't want Dad.  So, given the options of beating him into submission or simply putting him in his crib to cry himself to sleep, we went with the latter.  I tucked Landon in, tucked myself in and promptly fell asleep, being woken up around 8:00 by Callie.  Timmy looked rather peaceful in his sleep.  I wonder how long it took him to finally lay down and go to sleep.  Right now I don't think I'll worry about it.  Both boys are asleep so I'm going to seize the moment and pray that tonight is much less eventful!