Can You Hear Me Now?

Today was Meg's surgery to insert ear tubes. We are hoping they will let her ears drain better and prevent a few of those nasty ear infections she is so prone to getting. I was scared to go in by myself and wait for her, but things went smoothly. She was unhappy with me to not get her milk when I woke her up early, but other than that, she was a trooper.

We answered lots of questions for lots of people. Mostly the same questions over and over, but I guess they must have been important. I stressed over and over that her skin was extremely sensitive and asked them to use as little adhesive tape as possible. She would end up with welts. She sat and watched PBS for a while before they were ready for her. They gave her a little Versed, to take the edge off before she went to sleep and she got a little goofy. I carried her to the OR, where they took her out of my arms and promised to deliver her safely back to me.

The actual procedure took less than 15 minutes. She was back to me in 23 minutes. I went into recovery with her and when she woke up she was so sad. Confused, not feeling good and just not happy. It took some time before she settled down. She got a little oxygen and that helped get the goofy gas out of her system and she started to feel better. She already had marks on her eyes, marks where the EKG had been and where the blood pressure cuff had been on her leg. We transferred back to the other room to hang out for a while and make sure she would tolerate some food and drink. She drank two small bottles of apple juice and ate some saltine crackers. Less than 45 minutes later, they let us go home. Her doctor did say he suctioned out a lot of fluid from her ears and he was amazed she spoke as well as she did in light of all of the issues she's had with them. Now that she can hear better, how much will she talk? Will we be able to handle it? She slept until about 2, when it was time to go and get Bug from the bus and then she decided to hang out on the couch for a while. By 4:30, she was back to her old self, running around, doing the happy dance, and pouring all of the money out of brother's piggy bank. Your typical 2 year old. What a good kid.

I am glad things went so well and I know the credit goes in no small part to the friends and family who sent prayers on our behalf. It's scary to do things like this when your husband is home to support you, but when he's gone it's doubly hard. I am grateful for a happy, healthy and crazy daughter who is the one of the lights of my life.