Good-bye Tonsils!!! Hello Tongue!!!

Megan's surgery day finally came. She had her tonsils and adnoids removed, and her tongue clipped since she was born tongue-tied. The day started early, since we had to be at the hospital in Burlington at 6 a.m. So, we woke Megan at 4:50 a.m. and jumped in the van for the 40-minute drive. She wanted to take three special stuffed animals and a special blanket that was made by her great-grandmother. I hoped she would take a short nap in the van on the way to Burlington, but she was wide awake.

We checked into the pediatrics unit, where she was prepared for her surgery, which was scheduled for 7:35 a.m. To kill time, she played with Dora paper dolls (thanks, Aunt Mary). Soon, we met the anesthesiologist and loved her. Megan sucked down some medications and we were off to Day Surgery. Grandma Kathy met us there while we waited for the nurses to take Megan to her procedure.

Finally, she took off for her little adventure. About 40 minutes later, her physician said she did great, and the anesthesiologist said that she got the "Patient of the Day" award. She said Megan held her mask on herself and put herself to sleep. After about 10 minutes a nurse came and got Matthew to meet her in recovery. That was the hardest part -- the waking up. When she got back to her room in pediatrics, she was crying for me and after about 5 minutes she calmed down. It probably took about an hour before she was herself again, giggling and smiling.

I kept asking her to stick out her tongue. After about an hour, she finally did and we were shocked at how far she can stick it out now. As soon as she stuck it out for the first time, her face lit up and her eyes got huge. For the rest of the day she would stick her tongue out, then giggle. And she was excited to be able to feel all of her teeth with her tongue. 

Megan's breakfast of choice was an orange popsicle, apple juice and orange jello. She was pretty irritated with her IV and couldn't wait to get that out. As soon as I called the nurse to tell her that Megan was ready to go to the bathroom she said the IV could come out and she would get the discharge papers!! Yea! We were ready to go. It was 11 a.m. and I hadn't had anything to eat or drink, so I was anxious to get home and have a bite to eat. After a quick drive through Walgreens pharmacy (thanks to Grandma Kathy for dropping off her prescriptions earlier) we came home.

Megan was great through the whole experience, except for taking her medications. She has NEVER been good at taking medicines so it has been a challenge. Tuesday morning it took 2 hours to convince her to take her antibiotic. But each time we have to give her medication, it gets a little bit easier. Tuesday evening it only took 15 minutes.

Thank you to Aunt Mary for the basket of soup, pudding, juice and popsicles, and for Baby Peach and the Dora paper dolls that kept her occupied while we waited. Thank you, Grandma Kathy, for visiting Megan, for dropping her prescriptions off at the pharmacy for us, for the pudding and popsicles and the nice coloring activity tin that has kept her busy. Thank you Emily, Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gene for the applesauce and sucker. Thank you, most of all, for all of your prayers because she has definitely had a smoother recovery than I anticipated and she is seeming more and more like herself. God is good!