Selah’s Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

On Thursday morning, we barely heard our alarm clocks wake us up at 5:06 a.m. and we were in the car by 5:15. I actually had slept in my clothes, jewelry, everything but my shoes, the night before. Yeah, mornings are not my forte. Selah was in a great mood. She is such an adventurous and positive person. The surgery center got us registered quickly and back in pre-op quickly as well. They gave her “silly juice”, which tasted bad, and about 20 minutes later she started to get a little tired. I thought it would be awful when they wheeled her back to surgery but it wasn’t. She told me today she remembers that they put warm blankets on her and had her blow into a mask, then she went to sleep. (The silly juice is supposed to take away their memory of the whole thing, but obviously it didn’t work.)

30 minutes later, the surgeon came to the waiting room to tell us everything went great and she was waking up in recovery. We went back there and stayed for about an hour and a half. Selah was upset and shivering, but I could tell she just wasn’t awake fully and her throat was dry. They put her on my lap in a recliner, she drank some juice, had a bit of a popsicle, and they put some medicine in her IV, which put her to sleep almost comically fast.

When she woke up, she was better, and we basically dressed her and put her in the car. She slept all the way home, and I held her juice in my hand the whole time so that she could sip whenever she needed it. The most important things I would tell any parents are: Never hold off on a dose of painkillers (don’t wait for them to need it), it’s fine to give Motrin 2 hours after every dose of painkillers, and dehydration is the biggest concern. They need at least 3 oz of liquid per hour, so if they sleep a few hours, they need about 9 oz to make up for it when they wake up.

Once we got home, this little girl was ready to watch Hannah Montana and eat popsicles, which she did all day. That night Jack and I both got up every four hours to give her meds and get her to drink juice. On Friday, she had another good day, but some tummy troubles. (I am wondering if it was the ice cream because today, Saturday, her stomach has been fine and she didn’t ask for any ice cream.) Today, she slept late and is still in bed watching shows. She’s enjoyed having a few visitors and getting some cards, flowers, and Princess-y crafts to do. I have truly enjoyed having mommy-daughter sleep-over time together. I happen to love watching Hannah Montana and snuggling in bed, and I don’t mind running upstairs for soup and popsicles every half hour either. 🙂