Brody's Tonsillectomy

Playing in the waiting room and being so patient...

Putting his hospital clothes on and being so brave!

Getting sleepy after drinking his medicine...

A little delirious...

Out of his surgery and tuckered out.  Glad I got cuddle time with my little man.

Still sleepy, but trying to be cheerful and even fine enough to eat a fruit leather!

Apparently his throat was feeling fine enough to eat chicken fingers and fries from the cafeteria!  Way to go Brody!


On Friday, May 25th, Brody had his tonsils and adenoids removed.  Brody has never been a great sleeper.  Even as a baby it was horrible and he stopped taking naps at such a young age.  I sort of just thought that it was just part of his personality, and that he was just someone that didn't need a lot of sleep. He has also always been a loud sleeper and we didn't realize how bad it really was until our recent trip to St. George.  He slept in bed with us and after that we were certain he had sleep apnea.  He would completely stop breathing and his chest would sink in and he would gasp for a breath and then start snoring again.  His snoring was so bad, it wasn't only loud, but sounded really painful.

I knew it was getting worse because he had recently started getting up multiple times throughout the night and had a really hard time staying asleep.  He was also more irritable than normal and we had been having a really hard time with his behavior.  When we got home from St. George we scheduled an appointment with a Pediatric ENT doctor.  Everything we described to him was confirmed as sleep apnea, and he explained to us that children with sleep apnea also get night terrors.  It was so ironic that he mentioned that because I hadn't put the two together and Brody hadn't had a night terror in almost a year, but he had one at least once a week when he was younger.  He then went on to tell us that getting tonsils and adenoids out has a 90% success rate in curing childhood sleep apnea.  We scheduled the surgery for the next Friday.

The whole week beforehand I was so nervous.  There were a number of reasons for it.  I was most nervous about him being put to sleep.  It was making me sick to my stomach knowing that he would be totally out and that they were going to be doing surgery on my baby.  I couldn't handle it.  I was also nervous about how he would react afterwards...coming out of anesthesia and how he would handle the pain once we were home.  The night before Brody's surgery I asked Jayson to give Brody a blessing and after that I felt much better.

We made sure to talk to Brody about getting his tonsils out everyday beforehand so that he would know what to expect.  The morning of the surgery he was totally fine going to the hospital.  Once we were there he was very cooperative putting the hospital clothes on and having them take his vitals, and all of the prep they had to do prior to the surgery.  The only freakout he had was when they tried to put a hospital bracelet on him.  He was a trooper waiting though.  We had to wait quite awhile for his turn.  But he did great just sitting on mine and Jayson's lap and playing with the toys they had there.  When it was time for him to drink his "happy juice" to make him loopy enough for him to be taken back to the operating room, he took it willingly.  Once it kicked in, we were able to put a bracelet on him and then he was put into a wagon with his special blanket he wanted to bring and a pillow.  At this point I was having a really hard time keeping it together, but I stayed strong.  He had no idea what was going on and he was being hilarious.  That drink they gave him made him so loopy.

We were able to walk with him down the hall until it was time for them to take him back.  We gave him kisses and told him we loved him and then as soon as I turned around and they took him back I couldn't hold it in anymore.  I started bawling.  I knew he'd be okay though and Jayson and I went to the cafeteria to have lunch and wait.  It was only about 30 minutes later when the doctor came back in and told us he did great.  During our 3 minute conversation with him he told us probably three times how big his tonsils and adenoids were.  He really couldn't believe how big they were.

He did really well coming out of anesthesia.  I was worried he would get mean and be really grumpy.  But he woke up really well and very fast and wanted to drink right away.  The nurses kept telling me what a sweet boy I had...but I didn't need them to tell me that. :)  When I was able to see him he was still pretty groggy, but once he saw me, he didn't want the nurse to feed him his snow cone anymore, he wanted me to do it.  He was being so sweet.  Because of how well he was doing, we were able to be put into a recovery room really quickly and then Jayson was able to come and see him also.  Once we were in the room and he was really awake, he had a little meltdown.  He finally noticed all of the things hooked up to him and didn't like it one bit.  He tried to rip his IV out and didn't like the oxygen monitor taped on him either.  We told him he could take them off only if he kept drinking lots of liquid.  He immediately guzzled two whole cups of apple juice and then the nurse unhooked him from everything.  Then he fell asleep on my lap and we both took a nap.

Because he is still under 4, they had to observe him for at least 6 hours, so we were at the hospital all day. They would come in every once in awhile and check his vitals, and he was doing great and his pain was under control, so we were able to leave at 8pm.  My mom had been watching Ryker all day and by the time we got home he was already asleep and in bed...I sure missed him and I know Brody did too.  That night we had a really hard time getting him to take the Lortab they had prescribed to him, but once he did he was able to sleep.  He slept in bed with me that night and he did pretty well considering the circumstances.  He was definitely in pain the first few days and he refused to take the pain medication, so we just gave him Tylenol and Advil and that seemed to work just fine.  He did so well with sipping liquid throughout the day and even eating soft things every once in awhile, so I wasn't worried at all that he would get dehydrated.

It's been two weeks now, and I am so pleasantly surprised.  He is totally back to normal and doing great.  He keeps showing me his throat and saying, "look, it's all better now!"  I'm so happy he's feeling better!  I hate seeing him sick and in pain.  He is already doing so much better at night.  The past four nights he's only woken up once to come and get me.  That's a huge improvement.  He's not fighting to go to sleep each night and he's actually sleeping in now too.  Instead of being able to hear him clear down the hall with his door shut snoring, I have to put my ear right up to his face to feel his breath...no sound at all. I know he's getting a better night's rest now and I can already tell in his behavior too.  It is a miracle.  Really it is.  I know it will just get better and better as time goes on.  It was hard to see him go through this, especially because I know how it feels, but it has been so worth it.  I love you, sweet Brody!  Maybe we can both get some decent rest now.