Goodbye tonsils

Wednesday AJ had his tonsils out. We were all nervous, although I'm sure I was probably more than AJ. We arrived at the surgery center and AJ was excited to show Nick the small table and chairs that are tucked in a corner of the waiting room. He remembered them from the tour on Monday.

Before we knew it his name was called and we were heading back into pre-op. They did all of AJ's vitals and then brought us back to our curtain area to change into his gown and wait for his turn. When we took the tour the nurse showed us all of the curtain areas for kids. They have four of them. One had trains, one had trucks, one had animals and one had ladybugs. AJ was excited going from room to room deciding which one he'd hope to have.

We were escorted to this room:

Talk about a sign -- I asked and we got it. This is the only ladybug room in the pre-op area.



I had asked for a sign and boy did I get it. I smiled and looked at Nick and was able to feel a bit more at ease.

We were in that area for about an hour. The anesthesiologist came in, the nurse anesthetist, AJ's doc and a few other nurses all introducing themselves and going over the procedure. 

All ready to go!

 

AJ was dressed and ready to go. Didn't he look cute! We did have some down time to go for a ride while we waited and in between visitors. 

Playing a little while we waited to see the Doctors

 

Around 9:50 it was time to go. AJ was wheeled to the OR (like he was driving a race car!) and we had to go wait in the waiting room. I was able to hold it together until he was out of sight and then the tears came. What a helpless feeling. I knew he was in good hands but it was hard to watch him go.

About an hour later the doctor came out and told us he did great. Everything went as planned and we could see him in recovery.

All done, giving us a thumbs up.

When we got there he was starting to wake up and was very agitated. Once he calmed down he was able to sleep for a bit. He woke up much happier and was able to relax and watch a movie and have a popsicle. We had to stay in recovery for three hours (standard for tonsil removal).

Everyone at the surgery center was wonderful. They really made it a good experience not only for AJ but for us as well.

We're all glad it's done. Recovery has been a little tough -- nights especially, but he's getting there. Hopefully by next week he'll be back to his old self.