tubes and adenoids

Yesterday morning, bright and early, (5:00am), Luke and I headed off down the canyon to take him to the Primary Children's unit at the Riverton Hospital (a mile from our old house in Herriman), for Luke to get a second set of tubes in his ears, and his adenoids taken out.

Luke was scheduled to have this done a few weeks ago, but he came down with RSV, so it was postponed until now.

We have been excited for this small surgery, because we have been told that it would open the door for him to be able to hear a lot better, and begin talking.

I was so worried about Luke crying the entire way there (which was over an hour), because he had been fasting, and it was a long drive.  I prayed like crazy that somehow Luke would sleep.

I was able to transfer him from his bed, to the car, and drive all the way to Riverton without him waking up.  It was awesome!  I am so grateful for the help of the Lord, even with the small stuff.  It was a big worry for me, and could have been an awful drive.

When we got there, he had 4 different people listen to his lungs.  Because he is still coughing and has mucus, they were worried about the anesthesia.  He was cleared to still have the surgery, and I was very relieved.

Luke didn't once cry for his bottle, and I couldn't believe.  We waited in our own room, and the nurse brought toys to us.  Luke couldn't go in the toy room with the other kids, because of his cough.

He played happily and we talked with different doctors coming in and out until it was time for Luke to go back.

They brought a cute little red wagon for him to ride in, over to the surgery room.  He waved at all the nurses we passed and melted hearts with his sweet blue eyes and curly blonde hair.

20 minutes later, it was done!  The ENT surgeon, who is so awesome, and did Luke's tubes last time, met me in a room to talk about how it went.

He was grinning from ear to ear, and literally rubbed his hands together with excitement when he told me about all the "sludge" they irrigated out of Luke's ear canals.  This is not something they normally have to do, but in Luke's case, it was very necessary, and apparently, very fun to clear out. 

The "sludge" was so thick that Dr. Tagge was positive that it was seriously harming his hearing. It had also completely blocked a tube that was there from last year.

He was truly excited for Luke to have his ears cleared out, his nasty infected adenoids removed, and new tubes in his ears.  He told us to be ready for some big changes. I really appreciate a doctor that is as excited for Luke as we are.

Luke had a horrible recovery from the anesthesia!  He woke up too fast and completely freaked out.  He ripped his IV out a little, thrashed all over, arched his back, and screamed and screamed and screamed.  It took 2 narcotics to finally calm him down.  It was crazy!

We left 2 hours later...after he woke up from his drugged sleep, and finally headed home.

The last day has been amazing with Luke!!  He is mimicking everything we say, and talking clearly!  He was on sensory overload yesterday, with all of this new noise, and would go from hyper to crying in seconds, all day long.

He sings songs with me, he said bye bye for the first time, he clearly says mom and dad, and even said cupcake today at Sam's party.  He is as happy and excited as we are.  It literally made me tear up a few times to hear him mimic me and then clap his hands and laugh with joy.

On another side though, he is startled by noises that used to not phase him.  The toilet, the vacuum (his favorite thing in the universe), William's yells, and banging noises.

I am so grateful that Luke had this little procedure done, and for the leaps and bounds he is already making.

What a blessing modern medicine is!!!