Ear Tubes

Jaxson had ear tubes put in and skin tags on each side of his face removed and he's doing GREAT!!! As many of you may know Jaxson has been having recurring ear infections every 4 weeks or so since November and has been pretty miserable. I am really hoping that the tubes will help him start sleeping a little better since it's been like having an infant in the house with him up every 3 hours or so since his ears hurt so bad.

We were extremely lucky to have Jaxson's surgery done so quickly. The staff at Dr. Tunkel's office is extremely helpful! We had to reschedule his initial consultation visit as Jaxson came down with a stomach virus the night before our appointment, but we were lucky enough to have it rescheduled for the following week. There was also a cancellation on the surgery schedule so his surgery was scheduled for the week following the consultation. It was a complete whirl wind of a week after the consult with trying to schedule pre-op visits to his pediatrician and get the all clear from his genetisist at John Hopkins and DuPont (since the genetisist at DuPont hasn't actually physically examined Jaxson yet), but everyone was on top this. To the staff at Dr. Hoover-Fong's office and all of the doctor's at both hospitals - THANK YOU - for being so responsive to our requests and allowing this to happen on such a short schedule!

Jaxson did great on the morning of the surgery, until we hit pre-op! His surgery was schedule for 11:00am, but we had to arrive at 9:00am. He was allowed to have a small amount of juice or water 2 hours before arriving to pre-op which means he drank a little something before we left the house, but nothing else. He was doing great and didn't really seem to mind not having breakfast. He did ask me for some juice a few times on the ride over which I must say broke my mom's heart. She rode in the back of the car with Jaxson and every time I would turn around he would ask me for juice. My mother promptly told me I was to keep my eyes forward and she would let me know when he was asleep so I was allowed to turn around again!! She's such a wonderful grandmother and mom, I know she just couldn't take his sad little face. Once we hit pre-op he was ready for a nap and wanted his milk or juice so he could go to sleep. I don't think he ever really stopped crying thru out the entire procedure in pre-op until about 10 minutes before they took him into the operating room. I was allowed to "suit up" and actually walk him into the operating room where they placed the gas mask over his face and once he was asleep I kissed his cheek and left the room.

Here is Jaxson in the recovery room right after his surgery. They actually brought us back before he woke up so I got to be right there when he opened his eyes.

Once he woke up he was SOOOOOOOOO happy to get a drink of juice and some cookies from the nurse!

Peyton was a little upset that he had to go to school the day of Jaxson's surgery so we had to take the monkey instead. Peyton went to Build A Bear and made this monkey for Jaxson's first Christmas. Jaxson calls it his "Ni Nite", I guess because he goes to bed with it sometimes. Despite his face in this picture, he really loves this monkey and you'll usually find him hugging it and patting or rubbing his back. I guess maybe he was afraid the monkey was going to steal his cookie!
We were only in recovery for about 45 minutes and once we got home he was feeling a little better. While we were waiting for the surgery to complete, Mom-Mom bought him a new doggie to love on and as you can see he was very happy to have a new toy.

All in all, we are now 4 days after the surgery and he seems to be almost 100% back to his self. He's eating much better today and thankfully we are done with the ear drops (he absoluely HATED them!) Now we'll see what the next couple of days or weeks bring and pray that the ear tubes work their magic!!!

Thank you again to everyone who helped us get thru this surgery and all of the doctors appointments. I know I mentioned them during my post on FaceBook, but I really don't think I could have made it without everyone - my mom who went with us to the hospital and helped keep me sane during the day, my sisters for allowing me to talk them to death and who also helped get Peyton to school on time, all of our LP friends who gave me advice, encouragement and well wishes - Kim, Melissa and Amanda especially, you were all Godsends!