Tubular Dude
That would describe the Runt as of today. He is now the proud owner of two teeny tiny ear tubes, inserted in a hole in each ear drum to help the accumulated snot and pus drain out of his ears, thereby (hopefully) preventing the re-occurence of further ear infections.
Myringotomy is a fairly routine procedure (you can see a video here), but with anything that involves the use of general anesthesia, there are risks. It's those risks that have been keeping me up at night. Thankfully, with only one minor blip, the Runt sailed through without incident.
We arrived at the PACU at 6 a.m. to check in. After confirming our insurance info, we killed 30 minutes playing and watching the other kids who were there for surgery, then saw an intake nurse who took vital signs and weighed the Runt. Despite being hungry, the Runt turned on the charm, and flirted with everyone in sight, winning the award for "happiest patient of the day", hands down.
At 7:25 I carried the Runt back to the entrance to the OR, kissed him good-bye and handed him over to the nurse. I found my way back out to the waiting room dug out my book, and looked up to see the ENT coming out to tell me it was over, and everything went well. It was 7:35. A few minutes later I went back to recovery to find my little guy still passed out in his crib. He started coming around a few minutes later, and I was able to (finally!) nurse him. Unfortunately, that dropped his oxygen saturation down into the 80's (should be above 98). A little oxygen blown into his nose perked his levels right back up, although they continued to bounce around, staying in the low 90's with the occasional jump into the high 90's. This was the blip, and just a minor one. We ended up spending a couple of hours in recovery waiting for his saturation levels to stabilize and then headed home for a long, much needed nap for both of us.
I am so glad this is over. As much as I have been looking forward to this day since December when it became obvious that the Runt's ears were not clearing after the antibiotics, and having been through it all with the Brat when she was a toddler, it's still just scary to subject your infant to any type of surgery, even minor surgery.
I can imagine how stressful it must be to contemplate major surgery for your infant, as is the position of two women I know. The fear of losing your baby, even when you know the surgery is in their best interests, is overwhelming.
Myringotomy is a fairly routine procedure (you can see a video here), but with anything that involves the use of general anesthesia, there are risks. It's those risks that have been keeping me up at night. Thankfully, with only one minor blip, the Runt sailed through without incident.
We arrived at the PACU at 6 a.m. to check in. After confirming our insurance info, we killed 30 minutes playing and watching the other kids who were there for surgery, then saw an intake nurse who took vital signs and weighed the Runt. Despite being hungry, the Runt turned on the charm, and flirted with everyone in sight, winning the award for "happiest patient of the day", hands down.
At 7:25 I carried the Runt back to the entrance to the OR, kissed him good-bye and handed him over to the nurse. I found my way back out to the waiting room dug out my book, and looked up to see the ENT coming out to tell me it was over, and everything went well. It was 7:35. A few minutes later I went back to recovery to find my little guy still passed out in his crib. He started coming around a few minutes later, and I was able to (finally!) nurse him. Unfortunately, that dropped his oxygen saturation down into the 80's (should be above 98). A little oxygen blown into his nose perked his levels right back up, although they continued to bounce around, staying in the low 90's with the occasional jump into the high 90's. This was the blip, and just a minor one. We ended up spending a couple of hours in recovery waiting for his saturation levels to stabilize and then headed home for a long, much needed nap for both of us.
I am so glad this is over. As much as I have been looking forward to this day since December when it became obvious that the Runt's ears were not clearing after the antibiotics, and having been through it all with the Brat when she was a toddler, it's still just scary to subject your infant to any type of surgery, even minor surgery.
I can imagine how stressful it must be to contemplate major surgery for your infant, as is the position of two women I know. The fear of losing your baby, even when you know the surgery is in their best interests, is overwhelming.
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