why can't i take my tonsils home??

several years ago, around sixty five - give or take a few - larry's dad (pappa sir) went in to get his tonsils taken out. this was back in the day when it was common for doctors to make house calls and many doctor's residence served as the location of their practice as well. so on the morning of his tonsillectomy, pappa sir's dad drove him over to the dr's house where they placed him on a table located on the back porch. ether was administered, the back porch became a surgical room, the tonsils were removed and shortly there after pappa sir was carried to the car to recover at home. my..... how medicine has changed and how grateful i am for that change!!

today, brendan went in to get his tonsils taken out and thankfully it was not on the back porch with a rusty scalpel (i'm sure the scalpel wasn't rusty then either but in my head that's how i picture it). the decision to remove said tonsils occurred because a few months ago during a normal checkup brendan's tonsils caught his dr's eye. and not in a good way. after some questions about his sleeping habits she decided to have him do a sleep study. when the results came back it showed that he had sleep apnea and they referred us to a ear/nose and throat dr who confirmed what we suspected - they need to come out!! brendan was really nervous, which was to be expected. surgery of any kind is scary no matter how old you are so when your newly 11, it's terrifying. his biggest concern was the iv. it took me awhile to fully understand where this fear was coming from. we kept telling him that it would be just like a little bee sting and then finally he looked at me and said "that's not what you've said before. you said it hurt when it went in and didn't stop until it came out." oopps. my bad. i didn't realize that i had talked about that in front of him before, but apparently i did and he filed it away in his little elephant brain for future reference. my biggest fear for him was the anesthesia. i have never had a child put under before, nor have i been put under, so i was really concerned about how that would be. in the end, both of our fears were laid to rest with competent professionals that took care of things beautifully. the whole surgery went really well and brendan was such a tropper!! he kept up his sense of humor and had us laughing more than once. he was a little sad when he first woke up from surgery and had a few rough moments when the baby next to us woke up crying and continued to cry for awhile. poor little baby. he was just really hungry and scared. my favorite moment from the day was when we were sitting in recovery and brendan told us that he really wanted to talk to the people next to us to see how they were feeling and what they were in for. like i've said before, he is quite the compassionate and caring little boy. i also loved the way he quizzed everyone about what they were doing, why they were doing it and what effect it would have on him. i don't think they all thought it was as amusing as i did but i love to sit back and watch him process information and then fish for more to create a perfect picture in his head. why can't i take my tonsils home? what does pathology do with them? you asked the doctor if a 22 gauge was ok or if she needed a 20. why is one better than the other? and actually the nurses were really good about answering his questions, the surgeon however did not find them amusing at all. she was very quick to dismiss his question about the length of time the surgery would take. i thought for a second she was going to tell him off and we were going to have a little smack down in the prep room if i'm going to be completely honest about the situation. but, she did her job without any problems and i am grateful to her for that. although a little bedside manner might be helpful in calming the nerves of a child. but what do i know..... i'm just the mom ;) not a highly educated medical professional.

a before shot. i tried to get an after shot but it's too swollen to get a clear view

brendan nestled in his space suit thermal blanket relaxing to some tunes in recovery. they let him take the blanket and space suit hat (not in picture) home. he thought that was the coolest thing ever.


larry went down to the pharmacy to get brendans medicine and came back with this huge grocery type bag. he only has 2 prescriptions but a total of eight bottles. 5 bottles of antibiotic and 3 bottles of tylenol with codeine.

tonight, brendan is resting comfortably. he is still pretty sluggish and swollen and sore but his spirits are good and he is looking forward to eating some ice cream tomorrow. he is already tired of popsicles and slushes. that is something that i thought i would never see. a kid tired of popsicles?!?!

as for me, i am just thankful to heavenly father that everything went so well today. it was a minor procedure but you just never know. and it's always hard to see your little ones in pain, with monitors beeping. brings to mind how easily they could be not so healthy kids. i am also thankful to him for the peace that he blessed me with. i am not always the coolest cucumber in the patch when my kids have stuff like this going on but i was calm and composed all day today. and thanks to olivia and rachael for taking on my girls so that larry and i could be there together for brendan. to christy for giving my kitchen a break. and to those that sent prayers and best wishes our way.