Surgery to Put Tubes in the Boys' Ears

Friday was the day we've all been waiting for for months now--the day the boys got the tubes placed in their ears.  April 5th couldn't come fast enough for the past few weeks...

Thursday, I was at work, nervous that the daycare would call me with the news that the boys were sick and/or had fevers.  They will do the surgery if the child has an ear infection--they simply drain the ear and put the tubes in anyway--but they will not perform the surgery if the child has a significant cold or a fever because of the anesthesia.  My phone rang around 10AM, and it was the daycare.  It turns out, Sebastian tripped over a chair and into a table.  He hit his chin on the corner of the table and spit it open a bit.  They told me that they washed it and put neosporin and a bandaid on it, but that it was still bleeding and that they thought I should know so that I could make up my mind if I wanted to take him to the doctor or wait and see.  And, to top it off, Sebastian had a temperature of 100-something (don't remember what) and Adrian was 99-something.  I called the pediatrician and they told me to bring Sebastian in to check his chin and to bring Adrian in too if I wanted and they'd also check boy boys' ears.

Of course, I had a super busy day at work on Thursday because of the fact I was going to be out on Friday for the surgery.  I had meetings and class literally all day.  I canceled a meeting and a class and took an 11:15 appointment with the pediatrician.  I was hoping to be back at work for my 1:20 meeting.  Luckily the pediatrician didn't make us wait to long.  Usually with this new guy we wait a loooong time.  I like him, but I miss my old pediatrician who NEVER made us wait more than 5 minutes--not even once.  It turned out that Sebastian's chin was ok--it didn't need stitches or one of those fancy band-aids that closes up the wound.  And the doctor took a look at their ears, too, to see if that was what was elevating their temperature.  He said that their ears looked better than he'd ever seen them.  So I guess that 10-day course of Cefdinir worked.  I'm glad the diarrhea and discomfort the boys had to endure was at least justified in that the antibiotic got rid of the infection!

Both boys had meltdowns as I tried to dress them and get them out of the pediatrician's office.  When I left the little room, one of the nurses said, "It happens all the time!"  I was so embarrassed.  I felt like saying, "Yeah, well not to me!!"  We got out of there and went home as fast as possible.  I fed the boys and waited for my mom who was going to stay with them while they napped until Carlos got home at 2 so that I could go back to work.  I made it to my meeting 5 minutes late, but it was all ok.  Phew!

The next morning, my mom came to the house at 6AM and we left for the hospital around 6:30.  The surgery was being performed at Brockton Hospital which, in my opinion, has got to be one of the sorriest places I've ever been.  Thank God it was just tubes in their ears because if I needed anything more serious done to the boys, you can bet I would have done everything in my power to get an appointment at Children's in Boston or Waltham.  It's like the Ritz there compared to Brockton.   Anyway, the boys couldn't eat or drink anything from midnight Thursday night until their surgery at 8:30AM Friday.  I'm not sure why they asked us to get there at 7AM to register, but we did.  And we waited and waited. They finally escorted us and a bunch of other people up to the surgical ward (or whatever you call it).  They had two bays next to each other for the boys and they had little kid johnnys and fuzzy white Signature Healthcare bears for each boy.  There was no one around when they dropped us off at the bays...we waited a few minutes and then a bunch of nurses came over to us.  I don't think I've ever met a nurse I didn't like, and after my experience on bedrest and with the NICU, well, let's just say I truly believe they are angels.

Our main nurse before the surgery was a nice woman who said she had worked there for over 30 years.  God bless her--I was there a little over 4 hours, and I couldn't wait to get out of that depressing place.  Carlos immediately started winning over the nurses with his good looks and sparkling personality, and they loved the boys.  They kept asking everyone who came in the room, "Did you see the twins??  They're so cute!"  We were instructed to undress the boys and put them in their little hospital gowns.  They had socks that were so big they looked like flippers (they had rubber treads on the bottom).

Adrian holding his mask.  

Thumper kept Sebastian company in the waiting room

 Next to us there was a waiting room with a TV, toys, and some chairs so the boys had some things to do.  But mostly we held them the whole time because we didn't want them running loose all over the room wreaking havoc.  But they were so damn good.  I don't think I ever expected those boys would behave so well under the circumstances.  They were excellent.  They didn't cry or fuss and they just played, watched TV, and cuddled with us.

I think this is Adrian??

Around 8:30 we all started getting antsy.  The boys continued to behave, but we were all wondering what the delay was.  Sebastian fell asleep on Carlos's shoulder.  I tried, but failed, to get Adrian to sleep.

Turns out the doctor had to perform some sort of "emergency" procedure, and we got bumped.  The boys were supposed to be the first surgery of the day for the doctor, but it was 9:30 before they took Sebastian in.  Carlos suited up in his big white marshmallow man outfit and the blue cap for his head and booties for his shoes.  And off they went, with Sebastian still asleep in his Papi's arms.  I don't have more photos because we realized after taking about 10 pictures that camera and cell phone use was prohibited--probably so you don't catch someone else in their hospital gown!  Oops! 

We were allowed in the operating room to help as the anesthesiologist put the boys under.  Carlos was back where Adrian and I and my mother were waiting in about 2 minutes.  He said Sebastian stirred a little when they transferred him from Carlos's arms to the operating table, but he essentially never knew what hit him.  They worked on Sebastian, and in about 10 minutes they took Carlos into the recovery room so he'd be there when Sebastian woke.  Then they brought me in with Adrian.  He actually started to cry in the operating room.  Just a little--like he knew something was up.  I tried to act interested in all the things in the room so he'd be distracted by looking at them.  But then I had to put him on the table and hold his arms down as they basically smothered him with the mask.  They told me to talk or sing to him, and I broke down for a second as I sang "kookaburra" to him.  I wasn't actually that nervous about the surgery or the anesthesia, but I guess the emotion of singing to him as his eyes started to flutter and roll got to me.  Poor pathetic little Adrian.  He's the oldest, but definitely the more delicate of the two boys.  And the one who has suffered the most from the start: no amniotic fluid, swallow issues, bad reflux, and the worst of the ear problems.  And yet he is still the more mellow of the two, with such a sweet temperament.

Once Adrian was asleep they brought me to the recovery room and I waited.  Sebastian was already awake and acting like his normal self--even only a few minutes after waking.  

After about 10 minutes they rolled Adrian in.  He was still asleep on the stretcher/crib.  When he did wake, he was crying and gasping.  I think the nurse actually described it as squeaking.  Well, it was a horrifying noise, and it freaked Carlos and me out because everyone in the area went running to his bay and they closed the bay off to Carlos and me.  I was about to start panicking when their nice nurse popped her head over and told us not to worry, he was ok, but that they all went running to check on him because of the squeaking.  My heart rate was still up, but his breathing normalized, and we all were relieved.  After a few more minutes they let me go over and hold him as he got his bearings.  They put a nebulizer kind of tube near his face as I held him.  He sobbed for about 10 minutes before he calmed down and finally stopped.  It took poor Adrian a good 20-30 minutes though before he started to act like himself again.

While we were waiting for Adrian to normalize, we met a few more nice nurses who took care of us all.  They brought us a bunch of lollypops and stickers for the boys, and there were tatoos included with the stickers...So the nurses actually put this Spiderman tattoo on Sebastian's bicep for him.  So funny!

 Then Sebastian drank 3 whole glasses of apple juice (Adrian was interested only in sipping and dribbling).  It actually may have been more like 4....Then the nurses brought graham crackers to the boys and they devoured those.  Adrian was finally feeling like himself again.  They let us go, and we were off with much fanfare and many thank yous to our new nurse friends.

When they got home, the boys had a snack and napped right away.  They slept about 2 hours and were new little men when they woke.  We went for a walk around the neighborhood, and the boys interacted in their vehicles more than they usually do.

The rest of the afternoon they played in the house, but I cannot even begin to stress what a change we see in Adrian.  The doctor said he removed a lot of fluid from both of Adrian's ears.  He had been living with fluid in there for MONTHS.  I think the pressure and the feeling of constantly having that water in there--infected or not--must have just been perpetually uncomfortable and painful for him.  He couldn't stop smiling all afternoon, and he was babbling and chatting away with us and his brother.  Sebastian was in good spirits as well, although the difference isn't as noticeable.  But the doctor did not have to remove any fluid from his ear, and he didn't have the fluid in the ear problem as bad as Adrian during all this time.  In any event, both boys were happy and content after their surgery.

Adrian says, "Pull my finger!!"

Cowboy Sebastian on his trusty plastic horse

Today, Adrian's cheeriness continued, and he is such a happy little boy that it breaks my heart.  My poor Adrian living with all that discomfort for so long!  He must feel so relieved to feel normal again....
He was significantly less of a Mama's boy today--I guess there's not as much need for cuddling and hugs when you feel good!!

I only wish that surgery had been done sooner....so glad it's done!