Ear Tubes

Well, after six months of ear back-to-back ear infections, an ENT consult, and a lot of prayer, it was time for Maddie to get herself a pair of ear tubes placed. We left the house at 0530 to check in at 0600 for our 0730 case. She was very mellow beforehand, probably due in part to the confusion of being awake so early. It was very quick. I sat down in the waiting room, and 10 minutes later they updated me that they were finishing up and I could go see her in the recovery room shortly. This is her "before" photo as we were wheeling down the hallway to the elevators:

 When I got back to the recovery room, she was really crabby and hard to console. This was expected, since a) she hadn't had anything to eat or drink since bedtime (2030) the night before, and b) coming out from under anesthesia is disorienting, especially for kids. But it was nothing a popsicle and a little TLC couldn't alleviate. When we got back up to the peds ward, she wolfed down a pack of graham crackers and a yogurt cup before we went home at 0900. Poor thing, she's used to eating breakfast at 0730. This is her in the car with more graham crackers as we were loading up to leave the hospital. She was back to her silly little self by then.

The discharge instructions said to keep her playtime low-key. Hard to explain to a 16 month old why we can't build and jump around on a pillow fort when the couch cushions are right here in front of her. Let's hope she doesn't do anything to dislodge her new tubes.

Thanks for the prayers, well-wishes, and positive thoughts sent our way. Hopefully this will also make for a more comfortable flight back to Florida!