First, I would like to say thank you to all of you who have called, emailed, and texted to check on Isabella since her surgery. It means so much to have such great friends and family who love her sooooo much! You all are fabulous!
The surgery went very well! We got to the surgery center at 7 am and were first to be seen. After check-in and answering the same questions about 4 times, we waited in the pre-op room for what seemed like a while. Everyone was so nice to us though. I was super nervous and sick to my stomach the entire time. Isabella was in a pretty good mood considering what a horrible night we had the night before. (We were up together in the middle of the night for about 3 hours. She kept coughing and I know that she just wanted some water, but since it was after midnight on the day of surgery, I couldn't give her anything. And come to find out the next morning that her left ear was probably killing her because it was full of puss again.)
The doctors and nurses kept telling us that they would be giving Isabella a pre-surgery cocktail to help with the separation anxiety. When they realized how young she was (she was by far the youngest there) they determined that she probably wouldn't drink it so they weren't even going to try. So, I braced myself to hear her scream as they took her away from me. But I was so wrong! She went with the nurse willingly and just looked around at everyone on her way to surgery (as I fought back tears!).
We were sent out to the waiting room to wait for the doctor to come get us. We sat down at 8:11 and by 8:26 the doctor had come for us. And yes, I really was checking my watch that regularly. Dr. Rosenbloom told us about her ear being infected again, which just kind of verified to me one more time that we made the right decision in doing this whole thing.
When we finally saw Isabella in recovery, I seriously had to blink back the tears that were about to spew from my eyes. I can officially say that seeing your child in a hospital bed is absolutely the worst feeling in the entire world, and I pray that I never have to see it again. Seeing how tiny she was in that bed, surrounded by nurses and with an oxygen mask was awful. I quickly reminded myself to get a grip, or else everyone would think I was a psycho. I would have slapped myself if so many people hadn't been around. It was a gentle reminder that I am so blessed to have a healthy child. It really put things into perspective, and I was so grateful that tiny ear tubes were the only reason for us being there. I can't imagine what mothers of truly ill children go through. I have added those mothers to my prayer list :).
So we waited for Isabella to come to. The anesthesiologist said to let her sleep until she woke on her own. She did for about 10 really, really, really long minutes. I was told to expect her to literally wake up screaming. Not that she would be in pain, but because she would be scared and unaware of where she was and what was going on. With Isabella becoming a true screaming these past few weeks, I really expected her to freak out. But, thankfully, she didn't scream at all. She opened her eyes, and looked around for us with panic on her face. But once she realized that we were right next to her, she just let out a little cry and I picked her up. She cried and whined off and on until we left the surgery center, cried a little in the car until she fell asleep, and slept for a few hours when we got home. She woke up from her nap like nothing happened.
We do ear drops for a week (I could go on forever about how fun that is!) and have a follow up appointment in 2 weeks. She did so great, and I am so glad that we finally have it done. The poor girl has been through way too much for the past three months.
