Monday, August 17, 2009

Surgery Day!

Well, today was D-Day...Marc got his tonsils out this morning. When we took him in to the ENT he said that he had some very large tonsils. So we got them taken out to reduce his risk of sleep apnea.

We wondered if he would weigh less after his surgery since they were so big. ;) We weighed him this morning, after fasting since 9:00 the night before, and weighed in at 55.8 albs. When we got home he weighed 56.2 lbs.We left the house about 7:45 this morning. His surgery was scheduled for 9:30. We had all of the "prep" stuff done by about 9:00 so we sat in the room joking with Marc to try to make sure he was calm and ready. Daddy went back with Marc while he was put to sleep so he had to wear a sterile jump suit.We had fun playing with his stuffed Winnie the Pooh.....
Marc was allowed to have 1 of us go back with him while he went to sleep. He said he didn't know which one of us he wanted to go back. He said he wanted Daddy because "he was sort of his hero" and he wanted me because "he loves me". So, when it was time to go back, I gave him a hug and told him I loved him. As soon as I hugged him, he started balling, which made me, despite how hard I tried, ball too. Daddy said Marc flipped out while they were putting him to sleep.
The surgery lasted about an agonizing 1/2 an hour. While he was in surgery Marc and I sat in the waiting room. When Dr Winkle came out to tell us that Marc was out of surgery and everything went well, he confirmed that Marc did indeed have some "good sized" tonsils. I should have asked him if Marc's were the biggest he had ever removed. ;) After he left the surgical room, he was wheeled to a recovery room with just the nurses until he woke up. He was back there for about 15 minutes and then they came and got us. The nurse said he had just woken up and he still kind of had that deer in the headlights look. When we got back there he was very disoriented and confused and scared. He was scared because he "couldn't swallow" and "couldn't talk". the doctor had given his some numbing med in his throat, so between the numbing meds and the swollenness from the surgery he did have trouvle swallowing and talking. The nurse got him a grape "slushy", which was actually melted and crushed up popsicles. As he ate that and time went by, both of his "couldn'ts" got better. As soon as we got back to him, he wanted me to get in the bed with him, so of course, I did. I got to ride in the bed as we were wheeled into the recovery room we would be in for a couple of hours until discharge.During surgery, after he went to sleep with the mask, they put an IV in his hand so he cold have a saline drip. Since they do surgery on a lot of kids, they have learned to cover up the IV needle with an ace bandage to keep the child from scrathing and pulling at it. They put a bandage in Winnie the Pooh's arm too. :)By the time he finished his grape slushy, his whole mouth was purple.He spent his 2-hour recovery time chillin' out in his bed, eating another slushy, this time orange, and watching Scooby-Doo movies.After the nurses checked him over, they decided it was time for him to be discharged. Daddy went to get the van while I got Marc ready to go.Since they do surgery on a lot of kids, they gave Marc the option of being wheeled out to the car in a wheel chair or a wagon. Of course, Marc chose the wagon. :)We got home about 2:30 this afternoon. He has done fantastic!! He has not slept since he came out of surgery!! (We are waiting for it all to hit him like a ton of bricks). He has eaten a cup of pudding, a container of yogurt, and 1 srambled egg, along with a slush from Sonic, and a chocolate shake from McDonald's. Thank you for all of the prayers that were sent our way! Keep 'em coming for a speedy and good recovery. :)

A Day at Lake Michigan in Ludington

My Dad & Peg went over to Ludington for this past weekend. They decided to invite us up to spend the day on the beach with them. When we first got there it was lunch time, so we walked into town to get some lunch. Walking back to the hotel (which was right on the beach) we took the scenic walk along the marina and the channel. It was gorgeous!
After our walk, we hit the beach! Building sand castles was a big part of the day.
The water was cold, but we had fun in the water. :) We bought Samantha a floaty-thing to sit in in the water and play. It cost us $2 at the Meijer Outlet. It was a well spent $2. :)

My cool new lady bug floaty-thing

Having a water fight with Daddy.
Samantha had fun in the water but she only enjoyed it for a short time. So I took her back to the beach to play and explore some.

Cooling off with a juice pouch


Playing in the sand

Wearing the sand pail as a hat

Hanging out with Grandpa Keith
Wearing Grandpa's Tiger's hatWhen the kids began to tucker out we went back to my dad's hotel room. He hung out on their patio for awhile, until it got too toasty, then headed into the air-conditioned room.

A Day in the Sun

We had a nice, sunny day so we decided to spend it outside. Marc invited a neighbor friend, Spencer, over to play. I had filled up the pool for Samantha to play in and put out the sprinkler for the boys to play in.While Samantha slept the boys had fun taking the water out of the pool and pouring it all over the sidewalk.After awhile they played racing cars.After Samantha woke up from her nap, I changed her into her suit and took her out to enjoy the nice weather.While we were out playing Daddy came home from work. He became the hero to Marc and Spencer when he brought out a bottle of Diet Coke & Mentos. Marc pulled the string to drop the Mentos into the Coke.All 3 of the "kids" had so much fun they wanted to do it again but we didn't have any more Diet Coke so they decided to try it with Sprite. Spencer pulled the string this time.It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to "soak up the sun". :)