Abby's tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy

Abby has had enlarged tonsils since she was about 2 years old. Any time she would go in to see the doctor they would look in her throat and say, "Her tonsils are pretty big!" So after watching them for over a year, having her get sick multiple times, and continue to have problems with sleeping and eating we decided it was time to get them taken out. So on March 18th we went in to get them taken out. I will be honest I was pretty nervous because I knew the rehab could be rough and let's face it, Abby can sometimes be a whiny child so to add to that could pretty much put me over the edge. But more importantly this would be the first time Abby would be put out completely with anesthesia, and that is always scary to me. We talked a lot with Abby before hand about what to expect so it would hopefully go smooth. We told her how she would get to wear a "cool mask" and a "fun nightgown" and then afterward she would get to eat lots of popsicles.

Jake gave her a blessing the night before we went into the surgical center bright and early at 7:00 in the morning. Well when we got there she was fine until they brought us back to change her clothes. We got her changed and she started telling me that she didn't want to lay down and she didn't want the mask. I tried to cheer her up about it and when it came time to take her back I felt bad because the nurse took her hand and they went through the doors and after the doors shut I could hear Abby start crying and saying "I want my Mommy!" which broke my heart. So I went to the waiting room and after about 45 minutes the doctor came and spoke with me and told me she had trouble going down with the anesthesia because she didn't want to wear the mask, but everything else went great.

They took me back to see her in the recovery area when she was coming out of the anesthesia, and as I was walking up to where she was laying I could hear her whimpering to the nurse and saying, "I want my Mommy." Luckily this time I could see her and when she saw me she started crying more, which I guess is to be expected. She was still pretty groggy from the anesthesia so I just layed with her on her bed and told her stories to keep her mind off the IV in her hand, which was bugging her quite a bit. She was so sweet and she told me, "Mommy, I didn't like the mask" which made me laugh. We were only at the surgical center for about an hour after her surgery and then headed home. The first day she was home was actually not bad at all, she just layed on the couch and watched movies and started to perk up a little that night. All she wanted were popsicles, cheetos and a little bit of pudding, so that's what we gave her. She was up a lot that first night, and had a rough second day and threw up a couple of times, but the worst has been the nights. It may be because the wounds are scabbing or for some reason I think she panics when she can't swallow or something but she would wake up crying and sometimes screaming. One night it was so bad she didn't sleep more than like 3 hours the whole night, but last night went really well and today she woke up almost back to her old self, although she has a little bit of a higher voice now, which is pretty cute, but we don't know if that will last.

Today we went to see the doctor for Abby's postop appointment and on our way there Abby was telling me how she wanted to push the button on the "elligator" (which she loves to do of course) and I corrected her and said, "No honey it's called an elevator, with a "V". Abby then replied, "No Mommy, it's like alligator, but it's an elligator". I laughed so hard, that girl seriously cracks me up! What an experience this was!!

Here she is kind of dopey on her pain medicine chompin on cheetos......hey, whatever keeps her happy!