Meg’s ear appointment was supposed to be last Wednesday, but somehow, the hospital over-booked and we were bumped to today. If you recall, we were getting ear tubes put in to help limit or eliminate her countless ear infections, hopefully spurring her to start walking and put on some more weight (she’s skinny!). The procedure is outpatient surgery, something neither Brooke nor I have really had much experience with, so the whole thing was rather interesting.
We got a call yesterday afternoon that instructed us to have Meg here at 7:00 am. So, Brooke and I got up at 5:30, got everything ready, then woke Meg up and hopped in the car by 6:15 to head down to Iowa City. We got here a bit early, but got checked in pretty quickly and was moved back to the pre-op area. All the nurses and doctors were very impressed with Meg’s demeanor, as she was being shockingly good compared with the other toddlers that they usually see. Honestly, I was pretty surprised too, as Meg couldn’t have anything but clear liquids before going into surgery…and she could only have those clear liquids 2 hours prior to the surgery. Therefore, Meg hadn’t actually ate or drank anything since 7:00 pm the night before. That, and to get her there on time, we had to wake her up a good hour before she would normally wake up. All things considered, she was very happy.
We had to keep her entertained for 30-45 min before they took her back for surgery. She got her oxygen levels checked on her toe and her blood pressure done on her leg, all while I tried distracting her with a book. Worked pretty well, really. Meg did not want to be weighed, and wasn’t a fan of having a stethoscope on her chest. Other than that, she did alright while being poked and prodded.
…but she was pretty upset when the doctors had to take her to surgery. Unfortunately, we couldn’t accompany her back there unless one of us got dressed up in a surgical gown, etc., so we just let the doctors do their work. Brooke and I had to sit in the waiting room for another 30 min or so while the work was being done, then the doctor called us in to talk about things. Meg did quite well, apparently. Tubes put in, went under anesthesia just fine, and seemed to be coming out of it well, too. After Meg was awake, the doctors brought her in to a post-op recovery room where we had to sit while we waited for her to be allowed to leave. They had to do the same oxygen, heart rate, etc. tests again, but nothing was different. In the picture above, you can see the cotton balls in her ear, but we removed those shortly thereafter.
Oh, and Meg was very thirsty. As in, 20 oz of apple juice in about 15 min thirsty. And she liked the hospital graham crackers very much. 🙂
Because Meg was so good, the nurses brought in a few stuffed animals for her to choose between. While I would have chosen the blue, furry monster, Meg went with the smaller, less interesting yellow bear (?) with sunglasses. She didn’t ask me, though. Oh well.
All in all, the whole morning went very well. I was still able to make it to the lab by 10:00 am to get some work done, and Brooke took Meg home, still in her pajamas. We have some ear drops to use for the next week or two, and she should only need Tylenol today, but we’re told she should be mostly back to normal by this evening, already.
Hopefully she’ll sleep well. She had a big day. And did great. 🙂
Great for all of you! We will be waiting to hear what happens next.
So glad it went well and glad it’s over!! Impressive that you were at the lab by 10:00. Keep us posted! I was praying early this morning………… we were all with you in spirit!!