Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Ear Surgery pics
The first picture is of Evan in the shirt he's wearing on Dec. 5th, for our wedding. Then I posted a new picture of him this morning and some pictures of Evan's Ear after surgery. The first one was taken today and the other two were taken on Saturday. I think it looks better today. It's healing!! 
Saturday morning after surgery
I didn't sleep much on Friday night, just kept waking up to check on Evan. I was worried that he would have some pain, or his ear would be bleeding, or that he would vomit again.
When I went over to his bed at 4 am, he was wide awake. He said, “I’m better now,” then he got all excited and said “Look at my bear!” At that moment, I knew he was back to normal. I got him up, gave him applesauce and medicine, and looked at his ear. The gauze was coming loose, a big chunk was hanging out. I tried to push it back in with a q tip, but it seemed like there was just too much of it. I then called the hospital to see what I should do. It was over an hour before I got to talk to the on call ENT physician. She said that if it was too much to push back in, I could just cut off the end and stick the rest back in. I fixed him up and put him back to bed.
I stayed up and watched him fall back asleap. At 8AM, he was well rested and had ALL of his energy back. We had applesauce, then a little while later, some yogurt, and soup a little while after that.
When I went over to his bed at 4 am, he was wide awake. He said, “I’m better now,” then he got all excited and said “Look at my bear!” At that moment, I knew he was back to normal. I got him up, gave him applesauce and medicine, and looked at his ear. The gauze was coming loose, a big chunk was hanging out. I tried to push it back in with a q tip, but it seemed like there was just too much of it. I then called the hospital to see what I should do. It was over an hour before I got to talk to the on call ENT physician. She said that if it was too much to push back in, I could just cut off the end and stick the rest back in. I fixed him up and put him back to bed.
I stayed up and watched him fall back asleap. At 8AM, he was well rested and had ALL of his energy back. We had applesauce, then a little while later, some yogurt, and soup a little while after that.
Recovery from Surgery
Evan was so groggy, he kept drifting in and out of sleep, and then occassionally vomiting (well, actually... dry heaving). He hadn't had anything to eat, except for the IV and the medicines.
The nurses were debating whether to keep him overnight or have him go home. Andrea came to drop Jordan off at 5:30 or so, just as they were moving us from the surgery area to a room downstairs in of of the Urgent Care, Emergency Room wing. A nurse upstairs had said it would be ok to have Jordan come and stay with us, but in the new area... the nurses wouldn't allow him to stay.
So at about 6:00, Evan's Grandma stayed with him and I took Jordan home to get him ready for the sleepover at church. We packed his bag, checked with my friend Katie to see how Alli was doing, and then stopped at the grocery store to pick up soft foods that Evan could eat (applesauce, yogurt, soup, a lunchable for Jordan...). Joe got off work early and went to pick up Alli. I dropped off the food at home, said hi to Alli and Joe, and then dropped Jordan off at church. Then I was back to the hospital to check on Evan.
When I got there, they were preparing to release him. He vomited again, so I thought they would have to keep him, but they continued to prepare him for discharge. The Dr. had said that they should keep him overnight, if he vomited again. My mom had told the nurses that I wouldn't be able to stay the night (and wait for discharge sometime in the morning) because I had to pick up Jordan, and take care of Alli, and Joe had to work. The nurses in this area seemed more intent on getting us out of there, then on helping Evan. The nurse didn't seem to sure of herself. I wondered if she was new. She said that movement might make him vomit more, so she gave us a bag to use for the walk to the car. We were wondering if we couuld carry him, then I asked for a wheelchair. I think that's usually standard procedure, but she didn't even think of it. I pulled the car around, while the nurse and my mom weeled Evan to the ER Entrance door. My mom drove my car, and I sat in the back seat with Evan, just in case he got sick again. Thankfully, he didnt. I was so squished though, sitting in between Alli's car seat and Evan's car seat. I didn't want to have to reinstall Alli's car seat later, so I just left it.
We got Evan home. I carried him up the 3 flights of stairs to the apt., so that the motion would not cause him to vomit again. We gave him applesauce and some sprite and got his bed all ready and put him to bed. Through all of this, he had been very brave. I was so proud of him.
Joe gave my mom a ride back to the hospital to pick up her car, so she could drive home, while I stayed home with Evan and Alli (who had been sleeping since before I got home). I got together anything I might have needed in case Evan got sick during the night, or in case he had any pain, or needed my attention. Then after Joe got back home, I attempted to sleep.
The nurses were debating whether to keep him overnight or have him go home. Andrea came to drop Jordan off at 5:30 or so, just as they were moving us from the surgery area to a room downstairs in of of the Urgent Care, Emergency Room wing. A nurse upstairs had said it would be ok to have Jordan come and stay with us, but in the new area... the nurses wouldn't allow him to stay.
So at about 6:00, Evan's Grandma stayed with him and I took Jordan home to get him ready for the sleepover at church. We packed his bag, checked with my friend Katie to see how Alli was doing, and then stopped at the grocery store to pick up soft foods that Evan could eat (applesauce, yogurt, soup, a lunchable for Jordan...). Joe got off work early and went to pick up Alli. I dropped off the food at home, said hi to Alli and Joe, and then dropped Jordan off at church. Then I was back to the hospital to check on Evan.
When I got there, they were preparing to release him. He vomited again, so I thought they would have to keep him, but they continued to prepare him for discharge. The Dr. had said that they should keep him overnight, if he vomited again. My mom had told the nurses that I wouldn't be able to stay the night (and wait for discharge sometime in the morning) because I had to pick up Jordan, and take care of Alli, and Joe had to work. The nurses in this area seemed more intent on getting us out of there, then on helping Evan. The nurse didn't seem to sure of herself. I wondered if she was new. She said that movement might make him vomit more, so she gave us a bag to use for the walk to the car. We were wondering if we couuld carry him, then I asked for a wheelchair. I think that's usually standard procedure, but she didn't even think of it. I pulled the car around, while the nurse and my mom weeled Evan to the ER Entrance door. My mom drove my car, and I sat in the back seat with Evan, just in case he got sick again. Thankfully, he didnt. I was so squished though, sitting in between Alli's car seat and Evan's car seat. I didn't want to have to reinstall Alli's car seat later, so I just left it.
We got Evan home. I carried him up the 3 flights of stairs to the apt., so that the motion would not cause him to vomit again. We gave him applesauce and some sprite and got his bed all ready and put him to bed. Through all of this, he had been very brave. I was so proud of him.
Joe gave my mom a ride back to the hospital to pick up her car, so she could drive home, while I stayed home with Evan and Alli (who had been sleeping since before I got home). I got together anything I might have needed in case Evan got sick during the night, or in case he had any pain, or needed my attention. Then after Joe got back home, I attempted to sleep.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Surgery on Left Ear
The surgery was done on Friday. It was such a LONG day. We had to be at the hospital at 10 am to register and then wait in the lobby on 2nd floor until they were ready. Then they called us back to a room the size of our walk in closet (may not have been that small, but it felt like it). They just did height, weight (45 lbs now), and the normal questionaire stuff. They talked to Evan and us about the surgery. He was a little apprehensive. When it was time to go to the surgery room, we walked down there with him. We told him, he would lay down and sleep. He didn't want to go with the nurse, so she had to pick him up. Then we had to go back to the lobby to wait some more. The surgery was sposed to take 1 to 1 1/2 hour. After 2 hours, I was getting worried, so I asked the lady at the registration desk. The nurse told her that she thought that they were getting close to finishing up.
After 3 hours, the dr called us into a small room, about the size of a normal closet (not kidding). He explained why it took 3 hours. He said it was interesting a few times, challenging a few times, and he called it the "case of the year", a few times. He did not find what he was expecting.
I'm going to try to explain it, but I'm not a dr., especailly not an ENT surgeon, so I didn't understand a lot of what he said. From what I did understand... He went into the ear canal. There was this bone taking up 2/3 of the ear canal and ear wax taking up the other 1/3. He thought he would have to drill through the bone, or chip away at it. As he started to poke at it, it broke off. Mission accomplished there. Then he went into the ear canal to see what was going on in there. Evan has all the parts, and they seem to all be functioning... but they weren't in the right places and some things were crisscrossed that weren't sposed to be and it was just a little bit odd. So he had to move things so they would be alligned with the ear canal and do a little bit of restructuring. The Dr. was very surprised and proud. All in all, surgery went well.
The Dr. said that with the parts not exactly in the correct locations and not alligned normally, it'll be interesting to see if everything is really working properly. We are hopefull that he will have 100% hearing restored in that ear after his 2 week check up. At that appointment, the dr. will take out the excess gauz, and then we can re check his hearing in the left ear.
The Dr. left the room, and we had to go back to the lobby, until they called us back to Evan's room in the "Same Day Surgery" area. They finally called us back after another hour.
Hospital time is so slow. I had thought I'd be out of there by 3-4 pm, but the surgery wasn't even done until 3, and they didn't call us back until 4.
When they called us back, he was kind of out of it. He was very groggy from the extra anesthesia and had vomited a few times already. He looked at us and then went back to sleep. I tried to find cartoons for him to watch, but the tv had limited channels, and he didn't seem to be all that interested in watching anything anyway.
Before the surgery, they had dressed up Evan's bear. The bear was wearing a surgical mask, hat, and shoes. It was so cute!
The Dr. had checked in on Evan a few times, he instructed us and the nurses to push the gauze back in the ear canal if it began to come loose. The nurse poked at it a couple of times with a cotton ball, but was scared to touch it. Told me I could use a pen when we got home. The thought of using a pen was a little scary, didn't seem too sterile either.
More about recovery later...
After 3 hours, the dr called us into a small room, about the size of a normal closet (not kidding). He explained why it took 3 hours. He said it was interesting a few times, challenging a few times, and he called it the "case of the year", a few times. He did not find what he was expecting.
I'm going to try to explain it, but I'm not a dr., especailly not an ENT surgeon, so I didn't understand a lot of what he said. From what I did understand... He went into the ear canal. There was this bone taking up 2/3 of the ear canal and ear wax taking up the other 1/3. He thought he would have to drill through the bone, or chip away at it. As he started to poke at it, it broke off. Mission accomplished there. Then he went into the ear canal to see what was going on in there. Evan has all the parts, and they seem to all be functioning... but they weren't in the right places and some things were crisscrossed that weren't sposed to be and it was just a little bit odd. So he had to move things so they would be alligned with the ear canal and do a little bit of restructuring. The Dr. was very surprised and proud. All in all, surgery went well.
The Dr. said that with the parts not exactly in the correct locations and not alligned normally, it'll be interesting to see if everything is really working properly. We are hopefull that he will have 100% hearing restored in that ear after his 2 week check up. At that appointment, the dr. will take out the excess gauz, and then we can re check his hearing in the left ear.
The Dr. left the room, and we had to go back to the lobby, until they called us back to Evan's room in the "Same Day Surgery" area. They finally called us back after another hour.
Hospital time is so slow. I had thought I'd be out of there by 3-4 pm, but the surgery wasn't even done until 3, and they didn't call us back until 4.
When they called us back, he was kind of out of it. He was very groggy from the extra anesthesia and had vomited a few times already. He looked at us and then went back to sleep. I tried to find cartoons for him to watch, but the tv had limited channels, and he didn't seem to be all that interested in watching anything anyway.
Before the surgery, they had dressed up Evan's bear. The bear was wearing a surgical mask, hat, and shoes. It was so cute!
The Dr. had checked in on Evan a few times, he instructed us and the nurses to push the gauze back in the ear canal if it began to come loose. The nurse poked at it a couple of times with a cotton ball, but was scared to touch it. Told me I could use a pen when we got home. The thought of using a pen was a little scary, didn't seem too sterile either.
More about recovery later...
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