On March 21st my daughter had her tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy surgery. I spent the month leading up to her surgery preparing her just enough to make the day of surgery less stressful on her and probably more importantly my husband and I. Just knowing our six year old would be under anesthesia made my heart skip, but committing to this surgery was important.
Our daughter spent most of her life as a mouth breather and a chronic snorer. I always felt it was something we would have to explore more with an ENT, but during her younger years her pediatrician never seemed overly concerned. It wasn’t until this past August that her sleep seemed to be completely disrupted with fits of struggling to breathe clearly and moments where she’d wake up choking each night. We took her into her pedi multiple times over the next few months. She was diagnosed with something different each time; a sinus infection, COVID, Flu A and B.
It became apparent the underlying issue was her adenoids and possibly her tonsils. After seeing an ENT they agreed she needed to have surgery sooner than later. She was suffering from sleep apnea and the space between her adenoids was so small it was not allowing her to release much of the overgrowth of mucus her sinuses were making.
On the day of her surgery we were sent to an outpatient ambulatory center. We sat in the pre-op area anxiously awaiting for her turn to be called back. It was there that we met with her doctor and anesthesiologist, they gave her just enough information to keep her calm. At 10 am the anesthesiologist was ready to take her back and she started to get incredibly nervous and slumped into the bed. It was then that I think we all realized there was no turning back. The nurse asked her if she’d like to take a ride in the bed or if she preferred to walk. Of course my girl who always likes to be in control chose to walk. We watched her jump off the bed, take her anesthesiologists hand, and slowly walk away to the OR.
My heart sunk as we watched her do the bravest thing she’s ever had to do. We spent the next 55 minutes nervously waiting for her Dr. to give us the update that surgery was done. When the Dr. finally made his way out with a smile on his face and the news that everything went well it was a huge weight lifted off my chest.
We then waited another 35 minutes for a nurse to call us back, which felt like an eternity. I went from justifying the fact that she was still sleeping off the anesthesia to worrying that our baby was waking up confused, scared, and all alone. It was nauseating to sit there not being with her. When they finally called us back it was after 11:30 a.m., we couldn’t get there fast enough. It was incredibly hard to see our daughter coming out of anesthesia. Her little body was so tired and she would softly moan with her eyes closed and then pop her huge dilated eyes open and cry out for water. She was so confused and tears just dripped down her cheeks. I just wanted this part to be over, because there was nothing I could do but stroke her cheeks and softly talk to her hoping she could make sense of it all. We stayed in recovery until 1p.m. when she finally started to understand what had happened. The nurse removed her iv and she was under so much medication I’m happy to report she doesn’t even know they had to put a needle in her (one of her biggest fears) we got her dressed and my husband carried her to the car.
Our drive home took about 30 minutes and she spent that time staring out the window and briefly closing her eyes ever so often. When we finally made it home, she complained that she couldn’t swallow, I offered her a popsicle and her iPad to distract her. She sat in bed for the next 3 hours dazed with heavy eyelids. It took until the late afternoon for her to finally snuggle into bed and close her eyes. We spent that evening with her in and out of napping and using her ipad to write words to talk to us. She had no interest in trying to talk and only wanted sips of water with ice. I set my alarm to remind me every five hours to give her a dose of Tylenol.
When it was close to 10p.m. I turned on the humidifier, propped her head up with pillows and within minutes she was able to fall asleep. I spent that night lying next to her and immediately realized she was sleeping with her mouth closed and not once did she snore or have any trouble breathing. It was a night and day difference from what she has been used to.
We were so happy to be home and start her recovery process. The anticipation to get this surgery behind her has been a long time coming.
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