Taylor's Surgery

Ok...so a few months ago I started noticing that Taylor wasn't hearing me very well. She would say "huh?" all the time and yell at me that she couldn't hear me. I mentioned it to a few people and they told me it was probably just that she was 3 and wasn't listening to me. But I really just didn't feel like that was it...I was concerned that she genuinely couldn't hear me!

So at her 3 year old well check-up I mentioned it to her doctor and when he looked in her ears he said there was quite a bit of fluid behind her ear drums. So he referred us to ENT. At the ENT appointment Taylor did a hearing test (which I am still amazed that she cooperated for!). They told us that Taylor had a slight hearing loss in her left ear due to all the fluid. The doctor told us that it was just a temporary loss and was caused by the fluid, but that if it didn't get taken care of that it could lead to a permanent hearing loss. So he recommended putting another set of tubes in her ears to keep the fluid drained and also removing her adenoids.

So that brings us here to the day of the surgery! We had talked to Taylor the day before about what to expect at the "hospital" (it was really just the surgery center, but hospital was easier!). She was pretty excited and didn't really seem nervous that morning. I was glad for that! I took Liam to daycare that morning and he was not happy that Taylor was not with him. He was actually pretty distraught that he had to go by himself! I wasn't expecting him to act like that, but they said he calmed down quickly after I left.

We headed to the Children's West Surgery Center. When we got there we got called to the back and Taylor had to pee and put on a gown. She had to have her Daddy help her put on her gown and she refused to take off her pants or her shoes. She had decided that she was going to cooperate but that it was going to be on her terms! She let them take her blood pressure and her pulse ox. She even stood on the scale and got measured without a fuss! (by the way she weighs about 34 lbs and is 40 inches tall...big girl!)

She cuddled with us and colored and played with her doll (who she has named Sarah) while we waited on the doctor. She drank her "happy juice" without any problems and was just such a great little patient all morning! Our preacher Brother Richard came up there with us and prayed with us before the surgery...that calmed a lot of my fears because I knew that Taylor was wrapped in the arms of God and that she would be safe. I wasn't really nervous about anything, but you know, when it involves your baby there is always a little fear!

After she was a little woozy she laid down on the bed beside her baby and let them wheel her to the back without crying! The nurses said she did great and went right to sleep! They had to take her earrings out after she was asleep and put them back in before she woke up because she is just a little weird about her earrings! The nurses were great though and said they would take care of it!

I think the surgery took about 20 minutes and we were only away from her for about an hour. The doctor told us that everything went great and she did great! She was not a happy camper when she woke up and had that IV in her hand but after we got that out and the band-aid off she was much better. She was obviously groggy and a little whiney, but she really was a little trooper!

She fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep once we got there for about 3 hours. I got to catch up on the DVR and she got to sleep off the anesthesia so it worked out pretty great! Will went to get Liam and took him to Knoxville for a quick trip. Taylor didn't have any trouble going back to sleep last night and she slept all night (of course it probably helped that I gave her another dose of pain medicine right before she went to sleep!)

Taylor has been great this morning! She said she isn't hurting and her appetite has been great. She is running around playing and bossing Liam around like usual...so I would say she is pretty much back to normal! We go back to the doctor in about 7 weeks to have her hearing rechecked and to make sure the tubes look good. She was so great during the whole thing. But I really hope that is the last time we have to go through that with her!