Goodbye, Tonsils -- Hello, Ear Tubes

It's hard to believe it's been one month since Little Miss Sydney went in for surgery. Recurring ear infections, mild-hearing loss, sleep apnea, and extremely large tonsils meant one scary surgery for our little girl. This type of procedure is extremely common, but due to her age it meant an over-night stay in the hospital.

We had lots of time to plan, so Granny and Papa were able to drive in from Reno, NV to calm my nerves, keep Claire company, cook dinners, do home-improvements, and assist with Syd's recovery. Their love and support was soooo appreciated.

The surgery took place at Phoenix Children's Hospital; a WONDERFUL place to have something like this done when you're a worried parent or a nervous three-year-old. The staff is superior (and so is our ENT, Dr. S) and the processes are top-notch from check-in to check-out.

Sydney slept most of the first day, at least until her pain medication wore off. By late evening, she was perky and wide-eyed. I've included a couple of pictures I took with my camera phone during our mommy-daughter sleep over.

Due to a severe flu season the hospital was on lock-down to anyone under the age of 12, so Claire was unable to come inside and visit. It was tough on her, but we tried to make sure she had some time with Mommy and Daddy outside of the hospital. She even sent a video-message to Sydney (her "Sissy"). You can see Claire's message at this end of this blog. *You may need to click the arrow twice.

It was the girls' first night apart from each other since conception (yes, seriously), but they did great. Drugs helped Sydney cope, and Daddy, Granny and Papa helped Claire cope. A sucker helped too, which can be seen in the picture to the left.

The first 5-7 days (post-op) were pretty rough on Syd, but the changes in her just one-month later are amazing. She speaks much more clearly, doesn't snore at all, and (knock on wood) hasn't been sick or even sniffled. Her check-up was last Friday and she passed with flying colors.

Claire, who also has extremely large tonsils, will be evaluated next month so we may be going through this with her as well. At least we'll have a better idea of what to expect. It certainly wasn't any fun seeing our sweet little Sydney wake up from anesthesia, but considering what other parents and children were dealing with in the hospital, we had it easy.

Thanks, Phoenix Children's and Dr. S, you do great work!