Taite
After last night, Chris thought one of us should take Taite to school to give him a little attention. I thought I'd do it and then take him to McD's for breakfast (since I wasn't the one going without food with Brayton). Taite and I chatted while Taite got full on pancakes and sausage. So much so he couldn't even finish eating them! :-) As I was waiting for Taite to get ready to go to school, I thought that we might not be back in time to meet the bus, so I mentioned that Grandma might have to meet him when he gets off the bus.
After last night, Chris thought one of us should take Taite to school to give him a little attention. I thought I'd do it and then take him to McD's for breakfast (since I wasn't the one going without food with Brayton). Taite and I chatted while Taite got full on pancakes and sausage. So much so he couldn't even finish eating them! :-) As I was waiting for Taite to get ready to go to school, I thought that we might not be back in time to meet the bus, so I mentioned that Grandma might have to meet him when he gets off the bus.
Pre-op
10:15
We left the house with our backpack all packed with camera (to Chris' horror), GBA games, water bottles (for after surgery), a Spiderman blanket and Stitch. Brayton complained that his stomach hurt, partly from being hungry, but also from having to go to the bathroom.
Only after his shower did he start to cough. I truly thought it was a perfect sign that today was starting off without any coughing. Recently, most other mornings, we listened (rather difficultly) to him cough at least one of his lungs out; or so it sounded!
10:15
We left the house with our backpack all packed with camera (to Chris' horror), GBA games, water bottles (for after surgery), a Spiderman blanket and Stitch. Brayton complained that his stomach hurt, partly from being hungry, but also from having to go to the bathroom.
Only after his shower did he start to cough. I truly thought it was a perfect sign that today was starting off without any coughing. Recently, most other mornings, we listened (rather difficultly) to him cough at least one of his lungs out; or so it sounded!
11:45 am
We are now in our private room while Bray is coughing like he hasn't coughed in a very long time. I thought at one time he was going to throw up, that's how hard he coughed. I am now regretting having Chris come with. He is very stressed out because the Anesthesiologist wanted Bray to neb before he would agree to put him under for the surgery today. He asked him a bunch of questions to determine if this was just a chronic cough and not something that was a sign of infection. Of course Brayton answered the questions as follows:
'no, he didn't feel good'
'he feels worse today than yesterday'
'he didn't feel like playing'
UGH! Chris would repeat the questions so Bray would understand (If Josh or Cameron were here, would you go out and play with them ~ 'yes') and I stressed that he hasn't had anything to eat since last night at 9 pm, so of course he doesn't feel good ~ he's STARVING!
His coughing is now tamed a little since he has been nebbed and we are now praying that when the anesthesiologist comes back to listen to his lungs, that they will not have any signs of wheezing. . .
Chris confirmed with the ENT that this surgery should certainly help with the fluid running down the back of his throat causing all the coughing. We can only pray!
We are now in our private room while Bray is coughing like he hasn't coughed in a very long time. I thought at one time he was going to throw up, that's how hard he coughed. I am now regretting having Chris come with. He is very stressed out because the Anesthesiologist wanted Bray to neb before he would agree to put him under for the surgery today. He asked him a bunch of questions to determine if this was just a chronic cough and not something that was a sign of infection. Of course Brayton answered the questions as follows:'no, he didn't feel good'
'he feels worse today than yesterday'
'he didn't feel like playing'
UGH! Chris would repeat the questions so Bray would understand (If Josh or Cameron were here, would you go out and play with them ~ 'yes') and I stressed that he hasn't had anything to eat since last night at 9 pm, so of course he doesn't feel good ~ he's STARVING!
His coughing is now tamed a little since he has been nebbed and we are now praying that when the anesthesiologist comes back to listen to his lungs, that they will not have any signs of wheezing. . .
Chris confirmed with the ENT that this surgery should certainly help with the fluid running down the back of his throat causing all the coughing. We can only pray!
11:52
Anesthesiologist just came back in and said there isn't much difference in his breathing ~ still wheezing. . . He's not comfortable going forward with this surgery. He's going to get a second opinion . . . second opinion guy was too busy. . . The nurse came and asked Brayton if he wanted something to drink before we left ~ Chris and I agreed, nothing to drink as we are still holding out hope that the surgery will still happen even though the 1st Anesthesiologist didn't think it would work today. Don't feel bad, (he tells us) there is another family here today that has gone through this 3 times now, but the 3rd time was a charm for them! They are having their surgery today. I honestly don't think I could do this that many times! We've done everything we could by keeping him out of school the whole week before surgery, nebbing him, even seeing the Dr. last week to make sure his lungs were clear! VERY FRUSTRATING!!!
Anesthesiologist just came back in and said there isn't much difference in his breathing ~ still wheezing. . . He's not comfortable going forward with this surgery. He's going to get a second opinion . . . second opinion guy was too busy. . . The nurse came and asked Brayton if he wanted something to drink before we left ~ Chris and I agreed, nothing to drink as we are still holding out hope that the surgery will still happen even though the 1st Anesthesiologist didn't think it would work today. Don't feel bad, (he tells us) there is another family here today that has gone through this 3 times now, but the 3rd time was a charm for them! They are having their surgery today. I honestly don't think I could do this that many times! We've done everything we could by keeping him out of school the whole week before surgery, nebbing him, even seeing the Dr. last week to make sure his lungs were clear! VERY FRUSTRATING!!!12:30
2nd opinion Anesthesiologist finally was able to come (this was after many tears and Chris voicing his frustration to Anesthesiologist #1). He said that Brayton sounded a little tight, but sounded better than the 1st Anesthesiologist. described him as sounding. We waited another 15-20 minutes and had broke the news to Bray that today he wouldn't have surgery when the 1st Dr. came to say that his lungs sounded great ~ no wheezing!!! We apologized for getting upset earlier, but we've dealt with this (coughing/nebbing/wheezing) every winter since Bray was a baby (almost 7 years)! It's not that we wanted to jeopardize Bray's safety under anesthesia, but we really had no good answer
s as to how to “fix” his coughing and thought we'd be back to square 1 with him and finding a solution. Just this morning I was feeling blessed because this is all we have to deal with, nothing terminal! How quickly I'd forgotten that when we weren't going to have surgery today. I am now feeling lucky again since we are back on again.
2nd opinion Anesthesiologist finally was able to come (this was after many tears and Chris voicing his frustration to Anesthesiologist #1). He said that Brayton sounded a little tight, but sounded better than the 1st Anesthesiologist. described him as sounding. We waited another 15-20 minutes and had broke the news to Bray that today he wouldn't have surgery when the 1st Dr. came to say that his lungs sounded great ~ no wheezing!!! We apologized for getting upset earlier, but we've dealt with this (coughing/nebbing/wheezing) every winter since Bray was a baby (almost 7 years)! It's not that we wanted to jeopardize Bray's safety under anesthesia, but we really had no good answer
s as to how to “fix” his coughing and thought we'd be back to square 1 with him and finding a solution. Just this morning I was feeling blessed because this is all we have to deal with, nothing terminal! How quickly I'd forgotten that when we weren't going to have surgery today. I am now feeling lucky again since we are back on again.1:20
We are still waiting for the surgery that we are now behind (were before, previously) to be done so we can send our little guy in to be healed. I think we have a small miracle here on our hands. Thank you, Lord!
We are still waiting for the surgery that we are now behind (were before, previously) to be done so we can send our little guy in to be healed. I think we have a small miracle here on our hands. Thank you, Lord!
1:30
The anesthesiologist brought some “sleepy medicine” so he (Brayton, not the Anesthesiologist) isn't so nervous when they take him back to start surgery. Now, we just have to wait approximately another hour. Our little trooper is doing great! He's played his GameBoy and is now watching Cartoon Network. Even when we were in limbo as far as the surgery goes, he'd only asked once or twice for water or something to eat. But when we told him he couldn't have any, that was it. He is being such a sweetheart especially since this is taking MUCH longer than we had anticipated. Lesson here is that we should have nebbed him at home before we left so he wouldn't have had any wheezing by the time the Anesthesiologist came to him. Chris had called 2 or 3 different numbers at OMC and no one could answer his question about nebbing before surgery w/anesthesia. Apparently (according to the anesthesiologist) it's an easy question, but none of the people Chris spoke to could answer it for him. With Brayton, it just took longer than normal for the neb to help open his lungs and they didn't allow enough time after the neb to initially check his lungs.
Chris is also hanging in there for not having had anything to eat so far today. He did have to have some water so he could take Sudafed, but Bray didn't notice, so it's almost like it doesn't count, right?
The anesthesiologist brought some “sleepy medicine” so he (Brayton, not the Anesthesiologist) isn't so nervous when they take him back to start surgery. Now, we just have to wait approximately another hour. Our little trooper is doing great! He's played his GameBoy and is now watching Cartoon Network. Even when we were in limbo as far as the surgery goes, he'd only asked once or twice for water or something to eat. But when we told him he couldn't have any, that was it. He is being such a sweetheart especially since this is taking MUCH longer than we had anticipated. Lesson here is that we should have nebbed him at home before we left so he wouldn't have had any wheezing by the time the Anesthesiologist came to him. Chris had called 2 or 3 different numbers at OMC and no one could answer his question about nebbing before surgery w/anesthesia. Apparently (according to the anesthesiologist) it's an easy question, but none of the people Chris spoke to could answer it for him. With Brayton, it just took longer than normal for the neb to help open his lungs and they didn't allow enough time after the neb to initially check his lungs.
Chris is also hanging in there for not having had anything to eat so far today. He did have to have some water so he could take Sudafed, but Bray didn't notice, so it's almost like it doesn't count, right?
2:00
Brayton is still watching TV and is talking much slower and slurrier. :-) He's definitely got the “glazed over” look and talking with his usual wit. He can't remember what the show is about that he is watching, so Chris asked him if he remember Chris' name. Bray answered “dad” then Chris asked him if he remembered his own name and he said “son” (with a smile on his face) ~ yep, that's our boy!!!
Brayton is still watching TV and is talking much slower and slurrier. :-) He's definitely got the “glazed over” look and talking with his usual wit. He can't remember what the show is about that he is watching, so Chris asked him if he remember Chris' name. Bray answered “dad” then Chris asked him if he remembered his own name and he said “son” (with a smile on his face) ~ yep, that's our boy!!!
2:05
The OR nurse came to get Brayton. She asked if he had any loose teeth and he wanted to know why she asked. She said because you have to blow up a balloon and we don't want to knock any teeth out. Bray's concern after that ~ did he get to keep the balloon??
The OR nurse came to get Brayton. She asked if he had any loose teeth and he wanted to know why she asked. She said because you have to blow up a balloon and we don't want to knock any teeth out. Bray's concern after that ~ did he get to keep the balloon??
2:15
Chris and I enjoyed our lunch of chips, diet Dr. Pepper and a Snickers for dessert. Chris is double-checking the side effects of Albuteral (what he was nebbed with earlier today) and they are: tightness in the chest, wheezing and coughing. Kind of a catch-22!
Chris and I enjoyed our lunch of chips, diet Dr. Pepper and a Snickers for dessert. Chris is double-checking the side effects of Albuteral (what he was nebbed with earlier today) and they are: tightness in the chest, wheezing and coughing. Kind of a catch-22!
Post-Op
2:40
The ENT Dr. came to say that he took one very large adenoid out and it went very well. They didn't see anything that said he needed tubes, so just adenoids. The anesthesiologist also came by to say that everything went perfectly and apologized again for the roller coaster of emotions we went through this morning.
2:40
The ENT Dr. came to say that he took one very large adenoid out and it went very well. They didn't see anything that said he needed tubes, so just adenoids. The anesthesiologist also came by to say that everything went perfectly and apologized again for the roller coaster of emotions we went through this morning.
2:55
Brayton was wheeled in. The nurse hooked him up ~ one blood pressure cuff, one pulse ox, and still attached to the IV. The OR nurse said we were lucky to have him back because everyone in the OR wanted to keep him. (remember the wacky meds and him still having his sense of humor. . .)
He started to cry because his throat hurt. We did get him to drink a little apple juice and they brought him an Italian Ice to eat. He ate most of that with his eyes closed (very sleepy). He finished that and started to cry again that his throat hurt. The nurse said she'd bring another Italian Ice and some ibuprofen for the pain. He continued to cry and had a very deep barky cough ~ we tried to help him think about something else and kept feeding him the cold ice stuff so that would help. Why is it the meds always take the longest to get?? We had to wake him to take the meds (yep, that's how long it took ~ done crying, done eating and back asleep) and he is now snoring ~ which should go away with reduced swelling. Chris is wondering what we will have for supper :-)
Brayton was wheeled in. The nurse hooked him up ~ one blood pressure cuff, one pulse ox, and still attached to the IV. The OR nurse said we were lucky to have him back because everyone in the OR wanted to keep him. (remember the wacky meds and him still having his sense of humor. . .)
He started to cry because his throat hurt. We did get him to drink a little apple juice and they brought him an Italian Ice to eat. He ate most of that with his eyes closed (very sleepy). He finished that and started to cry again that his throat hurt. The nurse said she'd bring another Italian Ice and some ibuprofen for the pain. He continued to cry and had a very deep barky cough ~ we tried to help him think about something else and kept feeding him the cold ice stuff so that would help. Why is it the meds always take the longest to get?? We had to wake him to take the meds (yep, that's how long it took ~ done crying, done eating and back asleep) and he is now snoring ~ which should go away with reduced swelling. Chris is wondering what we will have for supper :-)4:30
The nurse suggested that we wake Bray to see if he could drink/swallow some more without
complication and then he can go home. He finished his 2nd Italian Ice and apple juice and when asked if he wanted something more, he chose ice cream ~ vanilla, of course! He ate the ice cream in good time and wanted to know if he'd had his adenoids out yet? Yeah! We were on our way home. :-) On the way home, he got to open his Get Well card & gift from Sonja & Greg. He was very excited that he got to keep his balloon from the OR!! Shortly after all this commotion, excitement and movement, he felt a little icky, so we leaned his seat back and he tried to get as comfy as you 
can in a car, wearing a seatbelt. We got home and he ordered oatmeal for supper. While eating, he wanted to know if he could have one of my biscuits (the “new” recipe I posted a while ago). I told him we didn't have any and he said “well, if you make some, can I have one”. . . um, no. I told him it would be too scratchy for his throat and then found the list of suggested foods after surgery. He said he wanted to read it himself so when he goes back to school, he'll be a better reader :-) He was reading along and could not figure out who would want to eat “cooked cereal”!!! I pointed out that he was eating oatmeal for supper and that was a cooked cereal. “Oh,” he says, “I was thinking like 'who would want to eat cooked Cheerios?!'” LOL
He is now enjoying his Wii Rubik's world game from Sonja & Greg (thanks!) and was yelling upstairs while I was making his oatmeal to tell me all about it. Yep, I don't think recovery will take very long :-)
So, that is a diary of our day. Not as we expected, but still with the same result, so we are very blessed. I am tired already (6:15) due to the stress of the day and am going to sleep with Brayton tonight because he cannot sleep alone and also to keep on top of the med schedule (every 3 hours alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen). Wish me luck :-) I may have to sleep in tomorrow LOL
The nurse suggested that we wake Bray to see if he could drink/swallow some more without
complication and then he can go home. He finished his 2nd Italian Ice and apple juice and when asked if he wanted something more, he chose ice cream ~ vanilla, of course! He ate the ice cream in good time and wanted to know if he'd had his adenoids out yet? Yeah! We were on our way home. :-) On the way home, he got to open his Get Well card & gift from Sonja & Greg. He was very excited that he got to keep his balloon from the OR!! Shortly after all this commotion, excitement and movement, he felt a little icky, so we leaned his seat back and he tried to get as comfy as you 
can in a car, wearing a seatbelt. We got home and he ordered oatmeal for supper. While eating, he wanted to know if he could have one of my biscuits (the “new” recipe I posted a while ago). I told him we didn't have any and he said “well, if you make some, can I have one”. . . um, no. I told him it would be too scratchy for his throat and then found the list of suggested foods after surgery. He said he wanted to read it himself so when he goes back to school, he'll be a better reader :-) He was reading along and could not figure out who would want to eat “cooked cereal”!!! I pointed out that he was eating oatmeal for supper and that was a cooked cereal. “Oh,” he says, “I was thinking like 'who would want to eat cooked Cheerios?!'” LOLHe is now enjoying his Wii Rubik's world game from Sonja & Greg (thanks!) and was yelling upstairs while I was making his oatmeal to tell me all about it. Yep, I don't think recovery will take very long :-)
So, that is a diary of our day. Not as we expected, but still with the same result, so we are very blessed. I am tired already (6:15) due to the stress of the day and am going to sleep with Brayton tonight because he cannot sleep alone and also to keep on top of the med schedule (every 3 hours alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen). Wish me luck :-) I may have to sleep in tomorrow LOL
Thanks for all your prayers and God bless!
What a rollercoaster day! I am sure you all are thankful its over, and very very exhausted. Try to get some rest and be thankful that the days to come will find a healthier little boy!!
ReplyDeleteLove to all of you!
Dad and Jane
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTotally messed up my comment...Sorry.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I just wanted to say that I cried when I read about how sore he was after he got back in the room with you. It sounds like his recovery will be much better than mine was. I am sure things have improved in the 25+ years since. Here I told you he would not want to eat and he is ordering biscuts. Please let me know what you need.
Also, please tell Chris that Mike would like him to talk more smack when his team creames Duke. He said what is the fun of being a UNC guy if you can't ruffle a Duke fan? He will gladly take any lashings Chris can give...this time anyway.
I'm so glad that the little guy is doing well. Hopefully it'll be a success and he won't be sick all the time.
ReplyDeleteThis is for Brayton. If you get tired of playing games by yourself, I think I have puzzle that needs putting together. Plus I have some of the best ice cream in the neighborhood ... VANILLA. You just have to call. I'll have the car warm and the puzzle ready!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that surgery went well for Brayton, Lisa. I was thinking of you guys all day yesterday and waiting to see your post on how surgery went ;-) I hope you had an uneventful night last night. Take care.
ReplyDeleteJenni