Mental Notes

Micah came through surgery today with flying colors, because he's a trooper like that, and because ear tubes aren't really considered surgery in most books. It's a rather decided non-event as far as procedures are concerned. But there are some things that the future me will want to remember about this day, so I'm reminding the future me of them right here, right now.

The boy remembers everything. It's probably why he loves elephants so much - both their minds are like steel traps. If something gets in, it just does not get out. And because we're aware that he has that brilliant photographic memory, we were shocked that he was so calm and compliant when we woke him at Way Too Early, threw him in the van in his pajamas, and drove to a hospital. And then shocked again when he happily snuggled up in a Same Day Surgery waiting room chair and played his iPod. But shocked was quite the understatement when he willingly offered his arm for a blood pressure reading and lifted his bangs to take a temperature on his forehead.

Who was this boy, and where was Micah?

But then he waved a cheery goodbye, reached for his coat, and tried to grab our bags, and it dawned on me that in his little mind, he'd twisted things into thinking that if he was a good patient, he wouldn't be "punished" with surgery. Bless his wee heart, life just doesn't work like that. He was unhappy to find this out through fist-hand experience. In fact, he was so disturbed over this fact that he had to visit the restroom, and because I sometimes suck at motherhood, I forgot clean underpants for him and he ended up going commando the rest of the day.

Mental Note #1 - Always pack clean underpants when Micah is going into surgery.

Despite the fact that we caught the ejection of his tubes nearly as soon as they were ejected, and scheduled surgery as quickly afterward as we could, his left ear drum fused to the bone of his middle ear. This has been our fear in not keeping tubes in, and it somehow happened in the 3 weeks he was without. This has the potential to cause permanent hearing damage, and it's yet to be determined if that's the case or not. We were quite vigilant in getting the boy to the ENT for regular check-ups in the past 10 months, so I'm not sure what we'll do in the future to prevent this, but we've got to try something. If we can protect his other ear, we most definitely will.

Mental Note #2 - Make standing appointments at the ENT every 6 weeks if we have to. A pain? Yes. Necessary? Yes. *sigh*

We forgot to tell the nursing staff that Micah gets nauseous on the anesthesia, so they did not give him anti-nausea drugs. He was sick in the recovery room, and we waited forever for him to sleep off the effects. While the extra sleep was so good for him, I know he did not enjoy the queasiness. Poor kiddo.

Mental Note #3 - Anti-nausea drugs are more important than happy juice. But both are worth asking for.

And at the end of a very long day, I will be completely and totally exhausted, and Micah will be well rested and have energy to spare. While I sit trying to focus on words like "24 hour rest" and "clear liquids only," the boy will be dancing to his favorite movie song, literally running circles around the dogs, and eating the 6" sub I brought home from lunch.

Mental Note #4 - I'm getting too old for this.