Surgery

We noticed Whitney was having trouble breathing through her nose and sleeping at night so took her to the doctor; Dr. Z. sent us to an ENT where it was confirmed that her adenoids were indeed enormous.  She was losing weight (three pounds before surgery-- they were so big they were pushing on her toungue!!) and as I said, not sleeping but thankfully it was going to be a quick and easy surgery to get her back to normal.

Ryan took off work and we set off for the hospital, only to get all checked and realize that Whitney had eaten a small pretzel on the way to the hospital (one she found in her car seat...gasp).  They surgery was quickly cancelled and we were on our way back home.  (the anesthesiologist was afraid that even the small amount of pretzel she ate could come up into the breathing tube during surgery and cause troubles)  It was a good thing the surgery was cancelled though because later that day Whitney came down with a fever and a cold.  

We set the surgery up for the following week and knew we were going to watch her like a hawk before leaving so that the same problem didn't happen again.  The night before surgery I heard a terrible noise, what sounded like a dog in our house, that turned out to be Meredith coughing.  She was having a hard time breathing so I rush her outside into the cool air which helped immediately.  

After a lot of worrying and wondering what the next day would hold for Meredith, Ryan ended up staying home with her while I took Whitney alone to her surgery downtown at children's.  

It was a long wait until our time for surgery but we made it through the whole process this time and Whitney was a trooper.  When it was our turn to go back Whitney was not liking the mask they put on her but she really did great.  They commented on how well she handled it.  When she was asleep they wheeled her into the operating room and I went to the waiting room for literally twenty minutes before being called back again.  

I was not sure what to expect but my heart skipped a beat when I was walking towards her hospital bed and saw her crying.  Poor girl was a mess.  I am not sure what happened during surgery but her tongue and lip were super swollen (they said it was from the breathing tube) and she was miserable.  They ended up giving her two doses of morphine which seemed to calm her down so that she was able to rest.  It was not easy to watch her suffer in this bed looking so small, I felt so helpless!

When she woke up again she was looking better, was able to drink some so we were allowed to go home.  She even gave a big smile when the nurse helped her into the race car wheel chair that took her to the car!  

Once home she seemed to do well.  She slept on and off, had several visitors with special treats and even ate some noodles for dinner.  She was complaining of her throat hurting but was really fighting  us on taking medicine, which isn't unusual for her.  They said the breathing tube could irritate her throat but we would later find out that Whitney had croup too so she was not only suffering from her surgery soreness but the yuckiness of a bad cough/sore throat.  

She went to bed just fine and then.....boom our night went from ok to awful in a few minutes.  Meredith was screaming her head off and nothing would calm her down.  So after a lot of consideration I took her into Children's urgent care at 10 pm.  They heard her awful cough and saw her poor irritated throat....confirmed it was croup.  She got steroids and some pain meds and we were on our way.  She finally was back to sleep around 11:30 pm when I hear crying coming from Whitney's room.  Ryan and I are in there for less then a minute when she throws up all over herself, her bed and the floor .  (side note: this is not good.  I have a vomit phobia and literally froze and then ran away.  Thankfully Ryan had a level head and was able to take control of the situation...note to self....have a better throw up plan because it is bound to happen again)

So all night long Whit was crying because her throat was so sore, Meredith was coughing and I was on edge waiting for Whitney to get sick again.  I think Whitney and I got maybe two hours of sleep that night -- and that is being generous.  The next day wasn't much better as Meredith screamed all day because her throat was so sore (she ate at least 10 yogurts bc it was cold and helped her i guess) and I had two very sick girls on my lap that I couldn't make better.........

 So back to the Dr. we go and yep both girls have croup BUT the next day was a little better and the day after that a little better and here we are two weeks later and that is a distant memory....

It wasn't the "simple" surgery I was expecting but I think Whitney is finally on the mend, now we are dealing with a sinus infection from the drainage after surgery, and we will notice a great difference in her breathing/allergies.