Trevor's Surgery

Last Wednesday Trevor had sinus surgery and an adenoidectomy. He was pretty brave, I have to say. I played the "Brave Mom" until they actually asked me to leave after they had put him to sleep. It was like every mothering bone in my body was screaming not to leave him! In my head, though, I knew he would be OK. Thank goodness Trevor was asleep by the time I started to tear up. In the picture above, he's making a face because he didn't want me to take his picture. (I think he was a little embarrassed about wearing tiger pajamas that said, "Good night, little tiger." I thought they were kind of cute.)
They marked his cheek so they knew which side they were working on. 
Trevor sort of flinched when they came at him with a marker. He thought it was funny afterwards. "Doesn't the doctor know which side to work on?" he asked.
I got to get all geared up, too, right before we went in. Isn't it a lovely ensemble? As we walked into the operating room, I started getting flash backs to my bladder surgery that I had when I was 5. I had told Trevor all about it before his surgery. Trevor laid down on the table and the anesthesiologist asked him what flavor of "gas" he wanted...he chose bubble gum. Then they asked him to count. One of the nurses told him to count down from a million, which he thought was funny. He started counting and you could tell he was really fighting going to sleep (which I remember doing when I was 5!). At about 20 his hands started twitching and his eyes kind of rolled around. The doctor said she thought he was probably mostly asleep, but just a little bit confused. Finally, he closed his eyes and I left, fighting back tears all the way to the waiting room! 

The surgery only lasted about 25 minutes, then the doctor came to get us and told us how everything went, as well as what to expect with his recovery. It took him a while to wake up...it was almost another hour before they let us see him. He didn't look that great, so I started to tear up again. They had me sit in a big recliner on wheels, and then they put him on my lap. It's been a while since I've had that kid on my lap! He's huge! What happened?! He started to perk up after a while, ate some ice chips and popsicle, then he fell asleep. They had given him some tylenol with codeine and that seemed to do the trick for him. After a while, we decided he would be more comfortable (and me, too...he was heavy) if we just headed home. He was sort of comatose the whole way home, but perked up when we got there. We watched like 3 movies in a row until he finally passed out around 8 p.m. 

Sandi was in town, which was great help. She kept Ethan and Kevin busy so we could all rest. She was a life-saver!

So, this is what he has looked like the passed week or so, just lying on the couch and watching all kinds of TV and movies. He perked up around last Friday, but then bombed out again Saturday. He went to school on Tuesday, but that didn't go so well. He was really worn out when he got home. So, he's been home the rest of this week, just lying around and moaning from time to time. The adenoidectomy really took it out of him, the doctor said at his post-op check-up on Wednesday. It has also given him astonishingly bad breath, which he uses as a weapon on his brothers. His appetite is slowly coming back...he's been living on breakfast shakes, scrambled eggs, chicken noodle soup, and smoothies. I'll be grateful when I have my old Trevor back. And it will be great not to fight those chronic sinus infections anymore. No more, "Trevor, blow your nose" every hour! Hooray!