Isabelle's Adenoids

pre-surgery photo



Well, yesterday was the big day.  Isabelle had her adenoids removed.  After scouring the internet for information about the procedure and asking her doctor an absurd amount of questions here is what I think a parent would need to know if and when their child should need to have this surgery.

1.  The nurses will give your child something called "goofy juice" to help them calm down enough to make them not freak out about going back to the ER.  This "goofy juice" can make your kid goofy acting....I guess.  For Isabelle, it did not.  She did not say anything funny or act funny in any way.  Instead it was more like we drugged her.  I did not particularly like seeing my kid basically lose control of her limbs and having her eyes glaze over like she was stoned.  But, that is just me.  I would have preferred a goofy kid.  I even took my video camera just in case.  Luckily they gave it to her like 10 minutes before she went back and it probably took like 7 minutes to kick in, so I didn't have to see her like that for very long.

2.  The surgery lasts all of about 15 minutes.  The doctor was back and talking to us before 20 minutes had passed.  We had a great doctor, who I would highly recommend (if you are in the Tulsa area).  Dr. Vaidya was pretty great and was nice enough to not get frustrated with all of my endless questions.  And in case you were wondering.....He described Isabelle's adenoids as HUGE, and said they were growing into the back of her nose...which after looking on the internet (again), I have determined he meant the back of her nasal passageway, because the back of her nose (as I think of the back of my nose) would be impossible.

3.  After surgery, when your child wakes up, they will be freaking out.  I was told this multiple times by multiple people, so I felt pretty prepared.  Isabelle was not in a happy place when she woke up.  She was crying, yelling, and trying to get AWAY from everyone.  It took about an hour for her to completely settle down and stop crying.  Nothing we did seemed to help calm her down.  Once the anesthesia wore off, she was fine.  This was probably the hardest part of the whole deal.  Usually we can get Isabelle to calm down and stop crying.  However, that is when she is normal, not just out of surgery.

4.  Nausea.  Some kids, just like some adults can experience nausea from the anesthesia.  We had a lot of people praying that she would not be throwing up in addition to everything else and thankfully she didn't.  I can't imagine vomiting on top of everything else.

5.  Bad breath.  This is something we have been more than warned about, but hasn't totally set in for Belle yet.  Bacteria will grow on the scab and cause a very, very, very foul odor.  We have been told to expect breath like rotting meat for 7-10 days.  Joy.

6.  Medicate, medicate, medicate.  This is coming from a mom who generally HATES to give her kids any kind of medicine.  I try very hard not to rely on medicine when my kids don't feel good.  I would rather try a natural or homeopathic cure first.  However, not with something like this.  It was super obvious when the pain killer wore off for Isabelle.  Unfortunately, I think the whole surgery experience including the goofy juice has made her flat out refuse to take medicine.  We are hiding it in juice and let me tell you, it is making all the difference.  She is happy, smiling and playing after taking her medicine.  Without it she is constantly crying and very unhappy.  We will keep using it as long as she seems to need it.

There you have it.  What I think you would need to know if your kid was having the same procedure.  And, just for the record, here were Isabelle's symptoms prior to surgery that led us to our decision......

bad breath
dry, cracked and bleeding lips (like all the time)
dry mouth
constant mouth breathing
restlessness while sleeping (we suspect she had developed sleep apnea...she was up multiple times every night)
snoring (she was louder than someone else I know and love)
poor appetite

I am so excited to see what she is like when she is fully recovered.  We were told she should be good to go in just a few days.  I will keep you posted.

Have a great Wednesday.