Six sets of ear tubes, and possibly an end to nose bleeds

This morning was one of those mornings that I spend lots of other mornings dreading. Nothing like having to be at the surgical center no later than 8am. I know you all want to hear a story...

The morning began wonderfully. I was bright eyed and bushytailed, and both children were incredibly enthusiastic to be woken up. We quickly and efficiently got dressed, and made it into the car with lots of time to spare. I dropped Sierra off at pre-school, where Jaymes charmed everyone with his wonderful behavior, then headed off to Winston, whistling cheerfully. Jaymes was just overjoyed to be heading off to places unknown, and fully understood the importance of not eating or drinking prior to his surgery. He was both pleasant and quiet on the car ride there. As always, traffic was nonexistant, and we found our way there with ease. Exactly on time, we skipped into the waiting room, where Jaymes and I chirped a happy "good morning!" to everyone there. The entire waiting room rose and applauded Jaymes arrival. In no time, we were ushered back into the pre-op area, where Jaymes danced and giggled with bliss. He was so very happy to see the nurses, doctors, and anesthesiologist. He was absolutely cooperative throughout the very short wait, and as he walked contentedly into the surgery room with a nurse, he blew kisses and smiled. The surgery itself was quick and perfect, and everyone involved was deeply impressed with Jaymes beautiful ear anatomy. When everything was finished, I met up with Jaymes in the recovery area. He was so serene and happy to be lying under a mountain of heated blankets, and made no effort to get up until he knew he was fully awake. He enjoyed a popsicle, and then had his IV removed with no fuss, and we skipped out to the parking lot, our hearts soaring with joy! The rest of the day was blissfully quiet, with Jaymes relaxing and giving me as much time as I needed to rest.

Ok, now that I've told you a story, how about we go over the way it REALLY went?

At 6:45 in the morning, my husband prodded me in an effort to wake me. I recall moaning loudly, throwing something at him, and burrowing under my pillow. He turned on the light, and tormented me into wakefulness. I staggered into the bathroom like a not-so-fresh zombie, and tried to wake myself up by splashing water on my face. Unfortunately, my aim was not too great, and I managed not only to splash ice cold water on my face, but also down the front of my shirt too. By the time I'd struggled into clean clothes, Jaymes had realized that daddy was not home, and come out of his room. I noticed this right as he was grabbing the box of Lucky Charms. It occurred to me at this point, that if Jaymes ate anything, they would cancel his surgery and I would have gotten up early for no real reason. With a shriek, I grabbed the box. Jaymes was not happy with me. There was much screaming about Lucky Charms. I was knocked awake by the horrific odor of the diaper dangling around Jaymes' waist, which I suppose was a blessing (being awake is good) despite the loss of all my nose hair due to the fumes. Once Jaymes was ready to go, I poked Sierra awake and got her dressed. She was annoyed with me, and wanted nothing to do with being awake so early.

Eventually I did manage to cram the children into the vehicle, about 10 minutes later than I had planned. Traffic was a nightmare, and by the time we got to Sierra's pre-school, we were even more behind. Jaymes, as always, pitched an enormous fit in the pre-school, horrifying both children and staff alike. Sierra was eager to join her class and pretend not to know us.

I got lost, as always, and made us even later for our appointment. Finally got there at 8:30. Jaymes was very upset when he saw where we were, and startled the ancient people in the waiting room with his bellowing. For the next 30 minutes he yelled that he wanted to go home, he was all done, etc. Finally make it back to the pre-op area, and the nurses are wonderful. They always try really hard to make things comfortable for the kids. Normally, Jaymes loves them. Not so much this time. Every time they asked him if he wanted something, he was very loudly say "NO." NO, he did not want a teddy bear. NO he did not want to watch a DVD. NO he did not want to ride in the wagon. NO, he did not want to wear his bracelet. I wore it instead. There was a bit of a hold up, so we had a pretty long wait. I think he went in for surgery around 11am. We were in the room right by an automatic door that was continually opening and closing. Every time it opened, Jaymes loudly ordered the doctors to shut the door. It bothered him a lot. The nurses decided giving Jaymes some meds to calm down might be wise, before the actually knocking-out. This backfired, as I thought it might. Jaymes doesn't react the right way to the stuff they give. It makes him more energetic, and it makes him super paranoid. He spent the rest of the time eyeing anyone who walked by as if they might jump at him with intent to kill at any time. When the doctor came over to talk to us, Jaymes let him know that he did not need to be seen, and would like to go home.

Once they got him back there, things went pretty quickly. He ended up having new tubes put in both ears. One ear had fluid, the other's hole had closed up and was getting toward having fluid. They also did decide to cauterize the nose vessel, which apparently was quite large. I really hope that means there will be no more nosebleeds.

I met up with Jaymes in recovery, where he was awake enough to be really upset that he couldn't sit up because of all the blankets on him. He was pretty loopy. He slept on me for awhile, then woke up enough to demand orange gatorade and an orange popsicle- both of which he greatly enjoyed. I was a little nervous, because last time he drank a bunch after surgery and vomited all over me, the exam room, the car... everywhere. Thankfully, he kept it all down today.

He was not a happy camper, in the car on the way home. He decided he would unhook his car seat harness, stand on the back seat, and wave to passing motorists. My orders to sit back down didn't do much of anything, so I had to pull over and harness him back up quickly. Went and got him a thing of french fries from Burger King, which pleased him, at least until we got home. He lost interest pretty quickly, and went about his favorite task, of destroying the house. Tried to get him to take a nap, but that was not happening.

Anyway, another set of ear tubes down. Jaymes always takes it pretty well. He does seem to have a little more pain than usual, he really cried when I put the drops in his poor little ears. But other than that, he seems to be back to normal. Hopefully cauterizing that big vessel in his nose will be helpful, neither Jaymes nor I can handle any more gushing nose bleeds!

So tomorrow, kiddos go back to school, and I go on preparing for Sierra's birthday party on Saturday. Praying it does not rain, so we can use the back yard and not the cramped kitchen like last year. Party is Saturday, and then Sunday I'm taking Sierra for a special day. she gets to choose where to eat lunch, then we'll go to Build A Bear and she can make whatever she wants, then ice cream. Jaymes will be with his respite worker, because I feel like Sisi really needs a day that is all about her, and not Jaymes. She's had it rough the last few months, with all his issues going on. She needs some special mommy and daddy time. It should be fun, and I sure do like birthday cake!