Thursday, September 5, 2013

Post Tonsillectomy Report

Thank you all so very much for praying for Selah’s surgery yesterday.

 

God blessed us with a miraculous surgery day!!!

photo 3

 

Selah’s neurologist came up with a plan to manage Selah’s medications to help her with the medical trauma/Post Traumatic Stress Disorder issues she struggles with.  The plan worked fabulously!!!

 

Selah did well pre-op.  ChildLife specialists at Dell Children’s Hospital do such a great job with their patients.  Selah rode several kiddie cars, then hopped into a wheelchair for more fun. Smile

 

photo 2

 

When they took Selah back to surgery, her ChildLife specialist zoomed her back in a toddler car while playing Barney on the iPad.  They said she did great going back to the OR without us—no tears or anything.  Amazing!!!

 

She didn’t have any complications during her procedures.  The tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, and ear tube procedure with her ENT only took about 30-40 minutes.

 

Then Selah had her ABR (sedated hearing test), which took about an hour.  The audiologist met with us afterward and excitedly proclaimed that Selah’s hearing is PERFECT and she couldn’t have gotten a better result! The audiologist was amazed by this, given her brain malformations.  The ABR measures the hearing nerve responses to the level of the brain stem, which was all perfect according to the test.  Hallelujah!  Another miracle!

 

We were called back to recovery to be with Selah.  She was sleeping peacefully when we arrived, but woke shortly thereafter, scared and in tears.  She quickly climbed from Mommy’s arms into the safety of her daddy’s arms.  The recovery nurse was excellent, which we’re so grateful for.

photo 1

 

Selah drank 4 ounces of apple juice in recovery, like a champ!  She also drank her oral pain meds like a champ!  We were completely blown away that Selah handled everything so well.  She’s typically a mess when it comes to anything medical, so we were prepared for the worst.  God blessed us with the BEST!

 

Selah’s ENT normally requires a 24-hour overnight stay for patients under age 6 who have obstructive sleep apnea, but Selah’s sleep specialist and neurologist and ENT doctor all agreed it would be better for Selah to recover at home, as long as her sats and stats remained stable in recovery.  She didn’t have any complications whatsoever.  Selah was able to go home post-op because she was doing so well.  Hallelujah!!!  Just a few hours after surgery, and she was walking out the door, waving goodbye! 

photo 1

 

We decided to get Selah a slushie at Sonic for the ride home.  Well, she shocked us all when she requested fries.  We decided on a kid’s meal, and Selah ate her cheeseburger and fries like a boss!!!  Oh my goodness, we were amazed.  She didn’t have any diet restrictions, so we figured it would be better to grant Selah her wishes!  She hadn’t eaten since the night before, so she was hungry. Smile

photo 2

Once we got home, Selah remained happy and active with a normal appetite.  She had an excellent first night home.  I was warned to keep a close eye on Selah’s breathing the first 24 hours because that’s the riskiest time, so I slept with Selah on my chest, checking on her throughout the night, administering medications, and praying for no complications.  She woke in an excellent mood this morning, ready to go!  Crazy—such a different response than we were expecting!!!

 

Today, Selah has had some ups and downs, but it’s related to keeping her pain managed.  We’re administering her pain meds round-the-clock, as we were instructed to do, alternating Ibuprofen and Hydrocodone every 3 hours, as we were told to do.  When the hydrocodone wears off, we all know it. Smile  I made a chart to keep track of meds given over the next ten days so we can stay on top of pain management.  Mattie set daily phone alarms to remind us when Selah needs medication.  We were warned days 5-10 can be harder than the first five days because the scab starts to fall off the throat and pain increases.  Ouch!

 

Thank you all for praying, and we ask for your continued prayers for Selah’s rapid and complication-free recovery.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

No comments:

blog comments powered by Disqus