First (and hopefully last) Surgery

I know I haven't really updated the blog concerning Russell's ears. Well, to make a very long story very short, the ENT agreed with us that Russell needed tubes.

Today was the big day. Tubes are considered a very minor and routine surgery, but when it's your child, it certainly doesn't seem minor or routine. Especially with Russell, who is very ingrained in his daily routine and kind of freaks out in new situations.

This new situation involved a lot of things that Russell didn't like:

1) we had to wake him up early this morning. He usually wakes up around 7 or 7:30; we had to wake him up at 6.

2) he couldn't eat or drink anything past midnight last night. Russell is not one of those children who doesn't eat - he eats very well, and on a consistent schedule, so I know this was tough for him.

3) we had to sit in a (very non-kid-friendly) waiting room for an hour and a half before the surgery.

4) there were lots of people he didn't know that were in his face and taking him away from Mommy and Daddy.

5) To top things off, he came down with a cold yesterday, and he is teething (all 4 incisors are coming through).

Well, needless to say, he was a VERY unhappy camper. At first, he did all right in the waiting room. We had lots of toys and books - here he is reading with Jason:

He definitely got restless, but was nowhere near as bad as when we went into the room to get his vital signs and change his clothes. He totally freaked out - screaming crying, clinging to me. They had a tough time getting everything they needed.

After we changed him and turned on Curious George, he calmed down a bit. I think he looked so cute in his little surgery outfit (scrubs? I guess? I don't know.)

They had to take him back, fully awake, to the OR without us. That did not go over well with him.

The surgery itself was super quick. The nurse and doctor came in and talked to us while Russell was "recovering." (I say that in quotes because it didn't sound too relaxing to us - we heard him screaming as soon as they woke him up.) Anyway, once he had some apple juice and Cheerios, he was just fine. Came home and was a little more lethargic than usual, but overall normal.

We will go back in about a month for a follow-up appointment. Hopefully everything will check out fine!