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Emily Parnell
on May 25 2013 - 06:00 AM
Do you want something great to happen? You better start doing something.
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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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I watched a team of nurses roll my baby down a sterile hospital hall. His wonky bed-head hair was covered by a blue hospital cap, and his arms were wrapped tightly around an eclectic menagerie — a wooly mammoth, a gray striped cat and a teddy bear. The nurses had tucked heated blankets around him — simple white cotton blankets with blue stripes that reminded me of the head cloth worn by Mother Teresa.
We’d been waiting in the pre-operating area for a while. Doctors and nurses stopped by to give post-op instructions, take his vitals and find out if he wanted more of the warm blankets. He squeezed his stuffed critters, his expression a manic, nervous grin.
“I wish they’d just knock me out so we could get this over with,” he mused.
In the 1900s, until the ’70s, almost every kid scored a tonsillectomy. “Get a sore throat — we’ll do surgery,” was the attitude. During the ’70s, however, they started being more judicious in prescribing the fairly major procedure.
These days, tonsils are still sometimes removed because of repeated sore throats. But in little guys, it seems they’re more often removed along with the adenoids for breathing problems. I located a handful of parents who had recent experience with the surgery, and like Cooper, their kids suffered from trouble breathing and sleep apnea due to the wads of lymphatic tissue that were large enough to obstruct their air paths.
We made the decision to have Cooper’s tonsils and adenoids removed to help his sleep. The kid snores… and he’s grumpy. The snoring, which got worse around allergy season, came and went. Some months he slept silently, but at peak times, we could hear his nighttime strangled snarls turn to chokes and gags. He could have a hard time waking up after 11 hours of sleep and floated around in a zombie-like state. The doctor reviewed a video of him sleeping and easily identified sleep apnea.
The other factor was Cooper’s temperament. He tends to have very impassioned, explosive reactions to things. He’s also moody — some days perfectly happy and delightful, other days either zoned out or just downright cross. On the days when his mood is off, it compounds with his strong, knee-jerk reactions. On those days, he doesn’t try in school, lashes out when angry or disappointed, and can be quite a bear.
Counselors, teachers, doctors and psychologists all assured us that having his tonsils out would result in a “new kid.” To hear them tell it, all negative character traits actually reside in one’s tonsils and adenoids, and can be easily removed with a scalpel. I didn’t want a new kid — I like the one I have — I just hoped the surgery would give him less reason to be grumpy.
The surgery was quick. Before long they called me back into the recovery area. The anesthesia tinkers with the kids’ emotions, and his eyes were swollen from crying. He was, predictably, cantankerous.
“Why would you do this to me?” he asked me. “I hate you,” he wailed, face cringing in pain each time he swallowed. I felt so bad for him. But you see what I mean about him lashing out when grumpy?
“You obviously want me dead,” he accused. I stifled a laugh, then glanced at the nurse, wondering what she’d make of this charming behavior.
“He can’t be held responsible for anything he says under anesthesia,” she defended with a chuckle.
“Mom, will you carry me to the car?” I surveyed my 70-pound son.
“I’ll try,” I agreed, and draped him over my shoulder and hauled him out.
On the way home, he fell asleep. Hearing him snoring loudly, I sighed. I noted that although he was snoring through an undoubtedly swollen throat, it didn’t sound like he was trying to breathe with a lump of slime in his throat. It was an improvement.
It’s been a week. He’s healing, still snoring and still a bit grumpy. I don’t have to worry about losing any portion of my spunky, sometimes hot-headed child whom I adore. But as he settles into better sleep, I hope more of his positive traits can spend more time at the surface. I hope he can spend more of his childhood enjoying life and feeling great. Because that’s what kids deserve.
I hope Cooper heals quickly and that he is sleeping well. It makes sense that your behavior would be impacted if you're not sleeping well. We've talked about my son before - he has some impulse/behavior issues. He also has enlarged adenoids but it's borderline on whether he needs surgery. However, he's had a sinus infection for over 5 weeks and we may be looking at surgery in the future. Thanks for sharing your experience!!I am glad he is doing okay. Tonsillectomies have come a long way, and I think the younger people are, the quicker they bounce back. My daughter had her tonsils/adenoids removed in fourth grade. She had constant strep infections and snored and slept poorly. It was a win-win for her. Both her and my other daughter are weepy out of surgery from the anaesthesia, but my youngest, who had surgery when he was in the second grade, came out of surgery chattering away, trying to get the nurse to come home with us and eat ravioli. One never knows :)
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