Alexander's Surgery

Alexander's adenoids were removed yesterday. It was his second surgery (and second with anesthesia) in a couple of years. Almost exactly two years ago he was circumcised.

We have always thought Alexander had a stopped-up, nasally sound and finally took him to a specialist. (His pediatrician didn't seem to notice it or think much of it.)

The doctor did a CT scan of his sinus area. Alexander sat so still for this that the doc said they were the best pictures of a 3-year-old he'd ever gotten! He said Alexander had "massively enlarged adenoids" which should be removed. Alexander was doing a lot of mouth-breathing and almost always was waking up at least once a night crying (though he usually goes right back to sleep easily). Apparently this could lead to not only sleep problems but also language delays if his ears get backed-up and he can't hear well. A lot of kids with enlarged adenoids are constantly sick with yucky noses. Thankfully Alexander did not always seem to be sick, but now I'm sure this probably did contribute to his recent bout with pink eye since the doctor said that likely developed from his discolored mucousy nose which hung around far too long.

Anyway, all went very well yesterday. We had to get the kids up early since we had to be there by 6 a.m. We were home by about 11:30 a.m. Before the surgery, we sat in a private and very comfortable "holding area" where they gave Alexander some kind of prep medication that made him super relaxed and totally loopy. Then he got to ride to his surgery in a wagon. Anna and Alexander both brought their big Dora and Diego dolls, and the nurses gave both kids and their dolls blue surgical hats.

When it was over, we sat in the pediatric post-op room with Alexander for an hour or so. He was very teary for a bit, but a couple of popsicles and juice seemed to help lift his spirits. He's such a sweet little boy. Even all sick and doped-up he said please when he asked for his juice. Awwww. And listen to this, also: At home he'd woken up from his nap to see just a small and perfectly normal amount of blood on his sheets. I found him in the bathroom where he was getting baby-wipes in an attempt to clean his sheets.

The doctor said Alexander's adenoids turned out to be so large that they had started to grow or push into his nose! He described them as "quite impressive". The CT scan had also revealed that Alexander had a concha bullosa, which is an enlarged turbinate (the turbinate being a normal part of the sinus structure). This was causing or definitely could cause nasal obstruction in the future so the doctor shaved that down, for lack of a better expression.

Once home Alexander took a long nap and we kept his play non-physical. We also kept him home from school today just to make sure we didn't risk him running into a wall (remember his feet issues, coupled with possible medication-related balance concerns) or otherwise falling down or being knocked by someone or something.

Here is a little video clip and photos of us in the pre-op area, post-op room and a couple of Anna and Michael passing the waiting time. Check out how Alexander mustered a little wave to Michael toward the end of the video!