Tubes in Ears

Today Tyler had tubes put in his ears to help drain fluid better until his ears develop more. He has had a whopping 7 ear infections in 2010 (3 in the spring, 1 in the summer, and 3 this fall)! The poor little guy had to be put under local anesthetic but the good news is that the procedure went well (and quickly) and he didn't seem to be in any pain today.

Pre-surgery was traumatic though! Tyler did not understand why he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything this morning. We showed up to check in at 7:30 and I kept distracting him in the lobby every time he started getting fussy about wanting food. Close to 8:30 he finally broke down in a full screaming/crying/flailing limbs tantrum. Of course that's when they called us in to prep for the procedure. Tyler would not be consoled and did not want to be held and continued the screaming and flailing in the prep room. In order to get Tyler to take some valium and Tylenol, the nurses swaddled him in a blanket to restrain his arms. I held the swaddle together in a quasi-hug while one nurse pushed his cheeks together and held his nose (to force him to swallow) and another nurse squirted the meds into his mouth. Tyler still managed to spit at least 1/3 of the medicine out but after about 5 minutes he fell asleep. (Did I mention that Tyler woke up at 5 am this morning? He normally wakes up around 6:30 or 7.) The combo of the meds, getting up early, and all the screaming finally knocked him out, which made the anesthesiologist's job easier. Luckily the nurses said the meds would make him forget all the trauma!

When Tyler woke up after surgery he happily wolfed down the apple juice and graham crackers the nurse gave him. He was so perky on the way to the car that you wouldn't have known he'd had minor surgery. He remained his normal playful little self the rest of the day. What a little trooper!