I'm not exactly sure why I was able to upload pictures this morning, but it was a nice surprise! I did go in and delete a few pictures that weren't very good, so perhaps I freed up just a little bit of space. I was actually in the process of downloading these pics to my laptop on the night of Matthew's surgery, when I had a little misfortune and, um, we'll just say I don't think the laptop will be salvaged. I decided since I was up way too early this morning, I would give Jacob's computer a try, and it even uploaded pictures without me having to put them in an album first.
Two weeks ago today, on November 28th, Matthew had to have ear tubes placed. We have been battling pretty much constant ear infections since early September, including an ear drum rupture, and he had a 6 week re-check with the ENT doctor on Monday the 26th. Since he had had an infection that had not cleared up by the two week re-check during that time, as well as still having fluid behind both ears, the doctor said it was time for tubes. Much to my surprise, they scheduled surgery for two days later. If Matthew had been little, like he was when he had his first set at a year old, I would have told Jason to go on to work and I would handle it myself. Ha...let's just say it was a good thing he went with me! Plus, due to his age, Matthew had to have anesthesia through IV and would be intubated, so that is always a little added risk. We had to leave the house about five in the morning, so my parents came over and stayed with Jacob and took him to school for me. Jacob loved not having to get up super-early and the fact that he was ready for school SO early he got to watch a little TV before school! :)
Matthew in the elevator...he would NOT look at me.
We had to wait a while before being took back and they did pre-op the same morning. Matthew did REALLY well during the IV insertion....it was the making sure he didn't rip it out part afterwards that was a pain! He is sulking a little bit in this pic...
I gave them fair warning. The last couple of times Matthew had been put to sleep, he woke up wild. This was NO exception. Jason and I were in the waiting room with my dad when they called me up to the reception desk. Since I had already spoken with the doctor via phone, I knew he was probably giving them a little trouble. They sent me back to the main recovery room, and lo and behold, I rounded the corner to see a male nurse on one side of the bed and two females on the other with Matthew standing up in middle. Then he was on his head with his hind end in the air. Then he was wollering all over the place. Not to mention he had already stripped his gown off and it was laying in the floor. Yes, he was a MESS. He wanted his IV out, which they did, and he sat and let them remove it. Then he wanted the sticky pads off of his chest, and he wanted the bracelets off of his arm. They tried to get him to leave those on, but after he ripped one of them off, they cut the other one for him. :) He gulped down a cup of Gatorade and we wheeled him off to his small recovery room. He lay so still back there that I was shocked. UNTIL...the nurse who started his IV popped in to check on him. That ticked him off and he went wild on me...while I was in the room with him by myself since they hadn't called Jason back. The male nurse who was in charge of Matthew came around the corner and now that I think back on his expression, it was hilarious. Matthew was standing on the bed, got off of the bed, was pulling my hair...yeah, it was a barrel of fun. Needless to say, the nurse-dude told him he could leave right then, just to let him grab his paperwork. (See, if you ever want to speed up your discharge, just go ape crazy...they'll be ready to get you out!) I had him call out front for Jason and was ever so relieved to strap the boy in his wheelchair. ;) All was better when we stopped by Sonic for lunch!!! Here is a picture of Matthew resting in momma and daddy's bed once we got home.
Dr. Salmon did say when he called me after surgery was over that all went well and he had had fluid behind both ears. He said the improvement in his hearing should be immediate. The next morning, I was getting Matthew ready and he kept "revving up his motor" as we call it. I said, "Matthew," in a stern type voice, but NOT real loud by no means, and he physically JUMPED because it sounded SO loud to him that it scared him. His teachers also reported similar incidents at school when on of the other students would get loud. He jumped once and then a couple of days later, Matthew just got up from the lunch table and went to his desk to get away from the "noise". :) He made that "revving his motor" sound for about a week...I guess he finally got used to his new way of hearing. We had to cancel his post-op appointment last week because Matthew had a stomach bug, but he went yesterday afternoon and the doc said his ears looked good. The worst part of the whole deal is trying to keep water out of his ears at bath time!
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