We woke Ledger at 6 A.M. and headed to Madison Memorial Hospital for surgery. He was scheduled to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, along with a turbinate reduction. We were nervous he would struggle without eating or drinking for more than 12 hours, but he surprised us and did awesome. Ledger was thrilled to see Grandpa Sullenger waiting for us in the lobby. Dorsie is the Director of Pharmacy at the hospital, so he was already at work.
After we were assigned a room, we dressed Ledger in a hospital gown, and waited a little over an hour for surgery. Thank goodness Grandpa was there to distract Sledge Hammer. Each nurse who popped their head in told us Ledger was the youngest patient they had seen to have a turbinate reduction at Madison Memorial. I wasn't quite sure how that made me feel.
When it was time, Pat walked Ledger back to the doors, and handed him over to the nurse. Ledger never looked back, and didn't let go of Thomas the Train the entire time. I was happy the IV was put in after Ledge was put under general anesthesia.
Forty five minutes later, Dr. P. came in and said the procedure went well. Ledger's tonsils were incredibly large and mushy, which is a sign of infection, and also explains why he's been so sick. He told us he'd never seen a little kid's tonsils that mushy before. The adenoids had been extremely large, and Dr. P. was able to shave down a good amount of the turbinates, which made him hopeful we might not have to fix Ledger's deviated septum in the future. He explained the turbinates are painful because they cut down the glands, and then cauterize them, and would cause Ledger's nose to bleed for the next few days. He also told us to plan on a rough next two weeks.
Soon after, Pat and I heard Ledger frantically screaming clear down the hall and through the doors. Poor thing, I'm sure coming out of general anesthesia is terrifying for a kid who doesn't understand why he is in pain and being held by strangers. After awhile, they came and grabbed me because they weren't able to calm him down. After rocking Ledger for quite awhile, and with the help of two nurses, we still couldn't calm him. They finally allowed Patrick to come help, and with the two of us singing every verse of Old McDonald over and over again, Ledger finally began to calm down.
I'm amazed at how smells, and noises bring back memories. While Ledger was waking up, he smelled just like Preslee had at PCMC. With his throat incredibly swollen, he was gasping and making noises just like Preslee did during her last few hours of life. We definitely had some hard moments, and I was extremely grateful to have Pat there by my side.
The next 6 hours were spent in a tiny day surgery room. Ledger cried for most of it, and would fall in and out of sleep. The only thing that seemed to calm him was holding his sippy cup. He needed it at all times, and even slept with it, but he never drank from it... He quickly learned the nurses were going to interrupt him, which made him burst into tears at the sight of them. Respiratory was called down to his room and they gave him a breathing treatment which helped him breathe a little easier. We couldn't get him to eat or drink, so we forced water down with a syringe, which he absolutely hated. We were all grateful my mom was able to come and help while Pat went to class.
Grandma Merritt came to visit on her lunch break and brought fun toys.
Loving his Mater truck. He was pretty calm while Grandma Merritt visited.Around 3:00 PM, we were finally moved upstairs to a bigger room. Ledger looked rough, and seemed to struggle more as he became more alert, and especially each time the pain medication began to wear off. He had visitors, who all brought fun toys, which he immediately became incredibly possessive of. Just ask Kayson who brought him a tractor...
I'm pretty sure Kayson left terrified.
Aunt Linsy, Ivy, and Uncle Jamie
Grandpa SiddowayAt 8:30 I sent Pat home to finish homework and get some sleep. Before he left, he was able to get Ledger's first and only post surgery smile.
Doesn't he melt your heart? His poor nose wouldn't stop bleeding.
It was a rough night. We watched Cars about 4 times. Ledger was in and out of sleep, and would wake up screaming, with blood running down his face and out of his mouth. At 3:00 AM, the nurse noticed a problem with IV, and realized it had detached and a blood clot had formed. A couple nurses tried flushing it, all the while Ledger was screaming and thrashing in my arms. They realized the IV needed to be pulled out, and since he still refused to eat or drink, he needed another one started in his opposite hand... just our luck. They called up one more nurse to help from the ER, and when we laid him down to put the IV in, he threw up a lot of blood. I quickly picked him up, so he wouldn't choke, and we were both instantly covered in blood, along with the bed and floor. Luckily we still had three nurses in the room, and they were able to quickly clean it up. We then swaddled him in a sheet, and Kim Shaum rocked at putting his new IV in. The nurses left a little before 5 AM, (two hours later) and almost immediately Ledger fell asleep with a death grip around my neck.
I finally dozed off around 7:00 AM, and at 7:30, I noticed there were a box of doughnuts at the foot of the bed. I immediately knew they were from Dorsie, and thought it was incredibly sweet of him to pick up doughnuts so early in the morning :) I was starving, and immediately stuffed a chocolate doughnut into my mouth, (I wasn't too fond of the meatloaf they served the night before) just as Pat walked in. He was a little disturbed at the sight of me... I had blood covering my white shirt from Ledger's nose and when he threw up, make-up smeared, my mouth full with doughnut, and looked like I had a muskrat living on top of my head. I was a complete disaster. Pat immediately told me to change, I obeyed orders, and slept for the next 3 hours while he took care of Ledger.
(Grandpa coming to say goodbye)When I woke up, I was ready to leave. We were discharged a few hours later. Hallelujah.
We left hoping Ledger would do better in his own environment, instead of screaming every time anyone walked into the room. (I'll post about his recovery at home later)
We were so grateful for all the support this little guy received. Thank your for all your comments, texts, e-mails, and prayers. We couldn't have done it without so many of you!Thank you!
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