We survived the Big Surgery...

Silas had to have his tonsils out in July. I was so nervous about telling him. He can get so worked up over the tiniest things and I was very anxious about how he would handle the news that he would have major surgery which would cause him great pain. I prayed for weeks about it.

Thankfully, this is not a new problem for parents to deal with, and so I was able to borrow a couple books from the library that were extremely helpful. I waited until the week before and sat with him one night and read "Goodbye Tonsils". When I finished, I explained that he would have to have his tonsils out too. His response absolutely surprised me. He hugged me and said, "Oh, thank you!" And when I told him that he would also have a procedure done on his nose to end the terrible nose bleeds he gets several times a week, he kicked his feet with joy! God is gracious!

I made sure that he knew it was going to cause him pain, just in case he missed that part, but I think he was so focused on the "goodbye tonsils" party we would have and the presents, ice cream and popsicles that were promised, and he decided it was worth it.

The night before the surgery he was playing with some neighbors and skinned his finger somehow. The way he cried and carried on you would think he had amputated the finger instead! Once again, I was so worried. I sent out a desperate email to friend asking them to pray for his surgery in the morning.

In the morning, he cheerfully put on his comfy-cozy clothes and skipped out to the car to go for his operation. He wasn't the least bit nervous or scared. God is merciful!

The surgery went according to plan and the surgeon reported that Silas' tonsils exploded with pus when he removed them. Yuck! As disgusting as that is to share, it is somewhat comforting to know as it's a terrible thing to make a decision for your child to have a major operation. I had doubted over and over that we were doing the right thing. Every time someone heard about it, they would ask if he was sick all the time. "No," I would reply. And then I would doubt. No, he was not sick all the time. He did have 2 documented cases of strep over a 12 month period, but he wasn't a sickly child. But then again, we keep pretty tight routines around here, especially when it comes to his quiet time and bed time. And we eat rather healthy, so it could be that his immune system was most of the time at it's best and so he wasn't "down" with a sickness as much as his body was just constantly fighting stuff off.

In recovery, he woke up asking to go home. He was offered slushies and soda pop, but he only wanted water. My fears of all the "bad food dyes" he would be ingesting during his recovery period quickly flew out the window as he kept to a pretty healthy diet, though I offered him so many forbidden treats that I thought for sure he would take them just because the were usually off limits. He said "no" to Jello, snowcones, koolaide, and all you can eat ice cream! He survived on homemade organic chicken-noodle soup and mashed potatoes. He decided hot things felt better and that ice cream was too "fick".

I would say he had a rather good time as a patient, getting lots of attention from mommy and daddy, all the TV he could watch, and plently of visitors bearing presents.

The worst part of recovering was getting him to take his medicine. On the first day he decided he didn't like it, and it become the biggest battle every 4 hours. We tried everything from bribery to spanking - it was terrible! We would have let him experience the pain of NOT taking his medicine, accept a friend of ours told us how they let their son sleep too long on the first day and then the pain was so great when he woke up that he wouldn't take his medicine, nor would he drink anything, and so he ended up becoming dehydrated and had to be re-admitted to the hospital. The threat of returning to the hospital or calling the surgeon usually helped get him to comply, but for the first few days, it was a constant struggle!

Now that it's been a month, I haven't noticed a great change in his health, though we haven't had to deal with nose bleeds and that only makes the whole ordeal worthwhile! Oh, those were just awful! He does seem to be a more pleasant child than before - he responds quicker to redirection and has more stamina. We went to the fair today for 6 hours and he hardly complained at all of being tired! He didn't even fall asleep in the car on the ride home!

When Silas was two years old he fell and broke his arm, and I remembered feeling almost transcendent as I thought "this is what it feels like to have a child with a broken arm." It wasn't easy dealing with it, but it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be either. Just like the nosebleeds: sometimes he was super calm and held his own tissue and other times he was hysterical about how he couldn't do it. But either way, the episode would come to an end and we would move on. I am so glad that this chapter of Silas' young life is over. I can't wait for what's ahead!