The Sturms' Site: Surgery

It all started over a year ago when I had that "mommy instinct" that everyone talks about. I knew, after what seemed like nonstop colds, sinus infections, and antibiotics, that something wasn't right. For over a year, Caleb struggled time and time again with a variety of conditions that made me think there might be something more than just the typical 10-12 colds a preschooler catches per year. Thankfully, we found an awesome pediatrician who really evaluated Caleb's ongoing battle with this. After a few months of trying different medications (he's had so many antibiotics that some don't even work anymore) and even attempting to treat him as though he were suffering from allergies, she finally decided we should take him to see an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor). I scheduled the appointment pronto and we went in at the beginning of May to have him checked out.

I didn't know what to expect at the appointment, but I was so glad to find out that they would take a detailed look at him right then and there. Unfortunately, that meant having to stick a snake-like tube through his nose to get a view of his adenoids. As you can imagine, this was not a piece of cake with a 3-year-old. I have never.never.never heard my baby scream out of such fear and discomfort. In the midst of the screaming, the doctor handed me the camera to take a look at the view of Caleb's adenoids that he described as "extremely large". I appreciated his attempt to make me well aware of what we were dealing with, but quite frankly I was more concerned that they'd get the tube out of my child's nose sooner than later. After calming the little guy down, we sat a talked for awhile about how these enlarged adenoids could be causing many of the issues Caleb had been having. The doctor went into plenty of detail about the benefits of removing them and I knew I would be fine with him going through this very common surgery. The doctor also decided to take a look at Caleb's tonsils to see if they were worth removing as well. Although they weren't quite as much of a problem as his adenoids, the doc still said they would be worth removing given our family history or snoring, sleep apnea, etc.

Fast forward a month, and it was June 1.....surgery day. After weeks of talking through what would happen and trying to prepare Caleb for what he'd go through, we were ready for whatever was to come. We showed up at 7:30, Caleb was in the pre-op room by 8, and then off to surgery by 8:30. By 9:00 we were sitting down with the doctor, who told us everything went well and we should be glad that his "huge" adenoids were out. After a few minutes we got to reunite with our sleepy, little guy. We spent about an hour in the recovery room and were headed home by 10:30. They weren't kidding when they said this was a very common procedure and it would go smoothly!

The first part of day 1 at home went well. Caleb was still in quite a daze and definitely felt fine with all the meds they pumped into him. At one point, I even said to Tyler that I'd be fine the next day if he'd rather just go back to work. It only took a couple hours for the meds to wear off and for me to change my tune in a hurry. By the afternoon, Caleb was miserable and it was impossible to get him to take the pain meds prescribed by the doctor. We ended up having to hold him down just to get them in and provide some sort of relief. Even with the meds, Caleb still had no interest in drinking and we had to watch closely for dehydration (a common problem with kids this young having the surgery). Day 2 was also filled with a lot of struggles, and we kept hoping that this would all get easier with each passing day. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Each day has been quite rough and we've only started to see the light at the end of the tunnel (a week later). Fortunately, Grandma Sue and Auntie Kalyn spent the entire weekend here and helped a ton!

For now, we're still in survival mode...trying to take care of our very brave, tough, preschooler (and don't forget about his wild toddler of a sister). We keep reminding ourselves that it will all be a distant memory soon enough and hopefully the payoff will be worth the pain. In a couple weeks we can get back to normal, which will probably be a battle in itself....as of right now, Caleb pretty much watches tv all day and can eat/drink whatever he wants, whenever he wants. You'd think that a 3-year-old would love that freedom, but this sweet boy doesn't want ice cream, popsicles, or juice boxes...his most common request throughout the day is: "Mommy, will you just snuggle with me in the chair". And that right there, makes every bit of the whining, frustration, and lack of sleep worth it!

Caleb in his adorable gown