bye bye tonsils and adenoids!

There was a period of about 8 months where Gracie was sick. ALL. THE. TIME.  She'd have one thing and then get struck with another. It was just sickness after sickness! Cold, croup, flu, croup again, cold, diarrhea, just the most random things. Granted it was winter mostly when she was sick so I didn't think much of it. But there got a point where I was SO annoyed and had to figure this out. No child should be sick that much. We went to Dr after Dr who would say "oh it's just a virus" or "looks like she has a cold." "her lungs sound great!" It was getting super annoying because I just wanted my baby to feel better!!

I went to 3 different doctors to get different opinions and didn't get any answers. So I started doing my own research. I read something about constant sickness being associated with asthma. Tanner had asthma as a kid so a lightbulb kicked on in my head and I thought hmmmmmm maybe it's asthma? I just blew it under the house and didn't come back to that idea for awhile. I decided to take her to an ENT specialist where they FINALLY gave me some answers. They said that she had a lot of fluid buildup in her ears. He said it was an orange color which meant it had been sitting there for over 6 months. He said that had I waited just a month longer, that gracie could've gone deaf.

UM WHAT?!?!?!?!

At this point my mind was racing and immediately I was frustrated with the 3 previous Dr's I'd taken her to who had all looked in her ears for ear infections. I know everyone makes mistakes but COME ON!!!!

I switched Gracie's primary doctor after that.

The ENT said that Gracie's tonsils were pretty swollen and since she had this fluid buildup in her ears for so long it would be best to get her tonsils and adenoids removed. A little bit of anxiety set it as I was thinking of my 2 year old baby being put under. BUT I trusted the Dr, he prescribed us some medication for the fluid in her ears, and we scheduled it as soon as they could get us in.

Days leading up to it I think I was more scared than she was. No actually I know I was. she didn't know what the heck was coming! haha. So I pampered her to make me feel better. We went and got pedicures, and then headed to the store to buy all the sugar to make some cookies.

party in the store in our jammies!!!! I got some crazy looks at the store because it was like 10am, my daughter was still in pajamas, no shoes on, and all we had in our cart was SUGAR AND JUNK FOOD!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But that is a memory I'll never forget. Just me and my girl doin' our thing, having some fun. :)

The night before surgery she couldn't eat or drink anything for 12 hours. Now at this age in gracie's life she HAD to have water before bed, and she's a hungry gal! she loves her breakfasts and her drinks. So you can imagine how that fight went down. haha. We got her into her cute little gown, and the nurses were so sweet. They immediately jumped in and tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible. They gave her an iPad, a sucker for afterwards, and tried to help her feel not as scared. She kept looking at dad and I and all I could see in her eyes was: "MOM why am i in this new place surrounded by ladies in colorful caps?" It really broke my heart. I broke down in tears when she went back into surgery. hahahaha. I'm such a baby. But i mean.....look at this.

She looks terrified.

When she came out of surgery it was AWFUL. she was screaming, kicking, nothing would calm her down. She kept coughing and would cough up blood, she just wouldn't calm down! I am really sensitive to anesthesia so I think she has those awesome genes. haha. I tried sitting by her on the bed, but she'd kick me, and scream. she was mad. We tried giving her some water, but she'd just cough it right up. The nurses would look at me and say "wow she's a strong one isn't she!" didn't quite help the situation but yes they were exactly right. haha. We tried putting the iPad right up to her face and even that didn't work. She just was not happy. poor girl. So we ended up carrying her out to the car, I drove while Tanner held her in the back to try and comfort her. I just wanted to get her home so she could see some familiar surroundings and not be so scared. when we got home she calmed right down. The meds kicked in, she had her sippy and her sucker, and she and I just snuggled.

for the next 3 days.

haha.

 It was a long 3 days. She realized that her throat hurt, and that she couldn't eat or drink like normal. She was not happy about it. haha. BUT she's never been one to snuggle so I soaked in ALL OF THOSE snuggles. For about 3 days she was out of it. She and I just kinda lounged around the house, and I never left her side. When I'd leave she'd freak out. After the 3rd day she started to want to play. The fifth day she actually went outside and rode her skooter! baby steps people.

all in all, it was interesting. I didn't expect her to come out of surgery so mad, but now we know for next time how she'll react if she goes under. Now that that was about a year and a half ago, she hasn't been sick NEAR AS MUCH!!! HALLELUJAH! so glad i followed my gut and took her to a specialist.

Since having this surgery, she's got croup a couple times. So she has a breathing machine to help uncloak her airways. Whenever she gets sick we just give her the steroid through the machine to help boost her immune system a little bit.  I'm so glad we figured out what was wrong!!