So, since I am way behind on the blog...I wanted to rewind to November 15, 2010 for a moment. Alexis was getting strep throat almost every 2 weeks. It seemed like once she finished an antibiotic, she would develop strep throat within the next 5 days. It was like clock work, and I was getting good at catching the strep almost before the test could. If she complained of a belly ache, I knew it was headed to a sore throat and fever within the next day.
The time came to make the decision to get rid of those nasty tonsils and adenoids for good. So, a day before Kevin's birthday, we decided to head to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital to remove them once and for all. Of course, I was a nervous wreck. We explained the procedure to Alexis several times, and how she would feel so much better once it was all over, and that she would of course receive lots of ice cream and popsicles after she woke up.
Alexis' surgery was to start at 10am. We arrived at the hospital early that morning to check in and go through all of the pre-op paperwork and tests. She did great! Several nurses explained to Alexis what would happen, and they even gave her Belle doll an arm bracelet and cleared her for surgery, as well. The hospital was amazing and did a great job with Alexis and Belle. Dr. Bauer came into let us know that he would see her in the operating room, which Scottish Rite had explained to Alexis and told her there would be lots of lights.
A few minutes before the surgery, a nurse came in to give Alexis a "fruity cocktail." They told us that once this occurred, she would need to stay in her bed with the rails up because she would be loopy. You could see her start to get sleepy, but she passed the time watching supergirl on her daddy's iphone. When the nurse came to get her, I imagined screaming, kicking, sobbing, etc. Boy was I ever wrong...Alexis just waved goodbye from her bed as they wheeled her off. Now, there was sobbing and lots of it, but it wasn't from Alexis, it was me, of course.
About 25 minutes later (it seemed like a lifetime), Dr. Bauer came in to let us know that she did great, and he felt that we made the right decision as she had enlarged tonsils and adenoids. He said she should get less strep and would not snore anymore.
About 30 minutes later, we heard crying in the hallway, and yep, you guessed it, it was our Alexis. She doesn't do very well under anesthesia as we learned after her ear tubes. So, once again, Daddy calmed her with supergirl movies. The nurse gave her several slushies and some medicine to put her to sleep. Once she fell asleep, she was out like a light. So out that I began to worry. For a long time, Alexis kept her stats within normal limits; however, about an hour into her slumber, her pulse ox began to drop. The nurse monitored her for awhile before deciding to give her some oxygen. About two hours into her slumber, I really began to worry that something was wrong and admittedly, I was ready to go home. I started arousing Alexis to wake her up. I believe around 2pm, we were allowed to go home!!!
When we got home, Alexis received gifts and pretty much anything she wanted. We stayed on top of her pain with the meds they gave us, and she did beautifully. We had some tummy issues, but we called in for zofran and all was well. Alexis' teacher visited the next day with lots of cards from her friends at school and a balloon and teddy bear. Each day, Alexis got a little better, and she really did not experience the 8 day backslide, so we were really lucky.
Today is February 15, and we have not had any positive strep tests to date since the tonsils came out. Knocking on major wood right now, but we know we made the right decision. Alexis was such a trooper, and we were all very proud of our big girl.
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