Super Isla

Isla did an amazing job yesterday with her adenoidectomy & ear tubies! She was chipper & brave throughout the prep & loved both her Dr. & anesthesiologist. (I swear, there are a special group of people that God chooses to be anesthesiologists, especially pediatric anesthesiologists. I've never met more compassionate reassuring doctors.)
Despite my decision in March that I never wanted to have a child under general anesthesia without Andrew, I ended up going with Isla alone. I knew that the procedure was about as risky has her procedure in March & everything went so well last time that I felt confident about going alone.

We are so lucky to have such a great Children's hospital. Everyone showered Isla with attention & love & she had fun getting a bracelet for herself & her elephant, weighing her elephant, wearing her fun spaceship gown (she wanted to take it home), getting loaded up with stickers & a sesame street pillowcase.
The procedure was quick & went well. Isla's Dr. met with me while she went to the PACU & said that one of her ears was almost clear, the other was filled with fluid & mucous, but did not seem infected & her adenoids were almost completely blocking her nose. She went over recovery & said Isla could go back to normal activity as soon as she felt like it. The most exciting news is that Isla can take her swimming lessons without ear plugs! Apparently in the past 10 years they've done a lot of studies & as long as children don't dive or swim deep they can swim with tubes because the chlorinated water is both sterile & doesn't enter the tubes as much regular or soapy water. There is no difference in infection rates between children who swim with or without plugs. We still need to be careful in the bath b/c soapy water can enter the ears more easily, but she said we do not need to use plugs unless she starts getting infections. My biggest concern, other than anesthesia was the issues with water. I'm so glad it is going to be easier than I thought.

Isla slept a lot longer before waking this time & the nurse brought me into the PACU while she was still sleeping. (Last time they came running out to get me & as we ran to the PACU I could hear Isla screaming crying. The first thing I saw was her sitting in bed trying to rip off her oxygen & IV. It was awful.) I shared our previous experience with the anesthesiologist & surgical nurse & I think they warned the recovery nurses. Despite being asleep, she was already crying. She really doesn't do well emotionally with the anesthesia. She was off oxygen, so the nurse got her out of bed & let me hold her. She kept waking up & crying really hard & then falling back asleep & crying softly. The nurse came over & suggested tylenol with codeine, because it would help with the pain & would calm her down. It seemed to help in about 30 minutes & they were able to take out her IV. After a few more minutes she really perked up and I changed her & we were able to go home.

She wanted In & Out on the way home & I couldn't say no, so she was eating a hamburger, fries & a milk shake within 4 hours of the procedure. Today she seems fully recovered & is running around like usual. Her voice is a little higher & a stuffy nose, but those are normal post adenoidectomy reactions & should go away soon.