Why an Adenoidectomy?

So the nerve wracking day has come…the day we have to schedule and take care of surgery for our little guy.  Nolan has a constant flow of mucus and does things with nose/lip and tongue to help with his breathing.  Sleep is tough as well.  This has brought Nolan’s team to the idea of Adenoid removal.  We have decided it would be best to try just adenoids first since their recovery is much easier.  If this helps him and he had an easy recovery we can call it a day (vs tonsils as well and have a huge recovery/pain and it wasn’t needed to “get better”) Surgery, anesthesia, recovery, scheduling: pre-op, pre-anesthesia phone, op, post-op, follow up all hard when its for your 3 year old. 

Why surgery is scarier than normal

We are very nervous for this upcoming surgery. Mostly, it brings up a lot of questions: –How is he going to handle the sounds, smells, containment, restriction, etc. of a hospital — How is he going to handle an IV? –How is he going to handle coming out of anesthesia? –What will recovery be like (they say relatively painless–how painless is that?) Honestly, only time and experience through it will give us the answers to these questions. Another thing we have had to consider: Nolans “thing” is food.  Like food is his motivation, it is the words he uses, it is the thing he NEEDS every day, it is the thing that makes him upset and can make or break any situation if it is not readily available…and we have to withhold food for surgery.  NT kids are not going to like this, but you can somewhat explain it to them.  You cannot explain this to Nolan. 

How we are preparing

We have requested to be put first on the surgery list so we can shorten the “torture” as much as possible and get him into surgery as smoothly as possible. To help with recovery, we are bringing his weighted blanket, Mickey on iPad, and favorite snacks (we will give as soon as we get the ok–another plus of not doing tonsils this time) This bundle of nerves is going to try to breathe, pray, and stay strong for Nolan, with the likelihood I call Daddy at work sobbing once he’s save beyond the doors at about 99%. If you have any extra prayers on Monday February 26, we’ll gladly take them!  I will write a post-op post to let you all know how it went, things I learn, and things that may help you come the situation.