Tonsillectomy

Jackson has always been a snorer. I had no idea how bad it was until we traveled to Dallas to visit some friends and we slept in the same room as Jackson and he was constantly waking me up with his snoring and gasping for air.  He stops breathing several times each night.  I knew that Ryan had major problems with that growing up and ended up having his tonsils out when he was 20.  Upon Jackson's first visit to the dentist - when he turned 3 - the dentist noticed his gums were white on the top and bright red toward the roots.  He said this is due to him being a mouth breather and it's definitely something to watch.  So I talked to my pediatricician a few months later who confirmed that we may need an ENT to look at Jackson's tonsils because "they are pretty big."  So a few months after that, we had our appointment with the ENT.  Dr. Lee is a funny doctor... and he said Jackson's tonsils "are juicy"... meaning very very large.  He suggested that we do remove them - and his adenoids too.  So we were going to do it in December, but because he was under 4, we had to do an overnight stay in the hospital.  That didn't sit too well with me.  I don't want him to have to stay in a hospital and also, I don't want to pay for it!  So we decided to wait til he turned 4 since he was so close anyway.  In March, we had another appointment with our dentist and he told me that he went to a conference on children and mouth breathing/sleep apnea type problems.  He stressed how important it is to take care of this as early as possible.  He said that a child's IQ drops 10 points when they are mouth breathers and also that they have been shown to have more problems with their organs because of the strain that's put on them when they tighten those muscles sleeping - because they are gasping for air so much... Anyway, I'm probably not repeating that perfectly, but it was a good reminder to me why we're doing this.  So Jackson turned 4 on May 23 and his surgery was scheduled for June 19.  So my mom took a sick day and kept Ethan that morning while Ryan and I took J into the hospital.  His check in was 615am and he was the first case (thank goodness!).  He knew what we were doing completely.  We didn't keep any secrets from him.  He totally understood that the doc was going to remove the "big things in my throat" and that afterward, his throat would hurt for a few days and then he'd feel much better and would sleep better.  I think it also helped that Ryan explained to him that the doctor took HIS tonsils out too and Jackson felt like he was going to be like daddy... that always helps comfort him.

 At the hospital, we got J in a gown and the nurses were extra nice to him.  They gave him some colors and even responded to his special request for "yellow" so he could color the sun... :)  He insisted that Mr. Bear go into the room with him too so the nurses said Mr. Bear needed a ID too - so they badged him too.  So nice of them - they were really great!

Jackson wasn't nervous at all - he was perfectly fine.

 After the surgery, the doctor came out to talk to us.  He said that it took a little longer than normal because Jackson's adenoid was quite large but good news that they got all out and there was no bleeding!  What seemed like forever was actually about 45 minutes before we could go see him.  The nurses said he woke up out of anesthesia perfectly fine - no crying or anything.  When he saw us, he was really thirsty so we gave him juice and water and a Popsicle.  He wanted to go home immediately.  I knew he would so that made me happy that we made the right decision waiting til he turned 4.  We stayed in the hospital so they could monitor him for about 2 hours.  LOOOONG two hours.  Finally, we got the green light to go home.  Jackson only teared up once and it was when he was asking to go home and I said we had to wait and he said "but mommy Ethan misses me and he needs to see me."  Such love between those two.  :)

 Headed home - Jackson wasn't allowed to walk and didn't want to take the wheelchair so daddy walked him out.  He was acting so good at this point.  He was still a little drugged and tired but fought sleep.

 When he got home, I had told him he got to watch lots of TV since the doc's prescription was nothing active - rest only.   Soo immediately, he asked for a show and Ethan jumped onto the chair to snuggle with big brother.  Jackson did so good on this first day- I will update about the rest of the days tomorrow.  :)