Ben's Surgery

Ben's ear tubes were put in last Wednesday, April 28th. The proceudre was done at the Gilbert Surgery Center. Here he is in the waiting room. Ü We needed to be there at 7am; the surgery was scheduled at 8am. Grandma came and helped get the big kids off to school. Ben was really happy while we waited. He had fun climbing on and off the chairs and reading books with Daddy. About 20 minutes before 8 we went to another room (the pre-op room?) where the anesthesiologist and Dr. Yin came and talked to us. There were several other kids getting tubes in that day. The nurses just took them back one by one. Ben went on back with the nurse just fine; no tears or anything. He just looked back at us and said, "Daddy?" We were taken back to another room where they would bring Ben to us when he was done. When I glanced at the clock as we sat down it was 8:17am. Right about then one of the other little boys was brought back to his mom after his surgery. He was pretty hysterical. Tyler and I just looked at each other and I thought ~ Oh boy! I eventually helped this mom out to her car as she had quite a few things to carry and her little boy (exactly the same age as Ben) was thrashing around. When I got back it was 8:30 and Ben was in Tyler's arms. Luckily he was not hysterical - thank heavens. He was still waking up and when he heard my voice he wanted to come to me and just cuddled with me. We cuddled for about 5 minutes and then we were dismissed. Short and sweet like everyone said it would be. The doctor said that Ben had quite a bit of thick fluid behind his left ear that they drained out. Tubes were placed in both ears.

On the way out to the car Ben burped and when he did he grabbed his ear and started screaming. That was sad. He cried for about 10 minutes as we drove toward Grandma Pam's house. We went there after the surgery since Ben hadn't eaten yet that morning and her house was closer to the surgery center then ours. He eventually calmed down on our drive as he got distracted by all the buses, cars, and flags that he was seeing. By the time we got to Grandma's he was back to his happy little self and ran around like nothing had happened. Grandma had made waffles and sausage for breakfast. Yum! Here are some pictures we took that day of us in Grandma's back yard.

Ben continued to be burpy that day and everytime he burped he would grab his ears and cry. But he always calmed down pretty quickly. That night at about 12:30am he threw up all over his crib. I found it weird that he would get sick so long after having the anesthesia. (Now I'm wondering if he was really just sick as Abby was sick and throwing up this weekend.) For the next day or so he would randomly put his hands on his ears and fuss but that was it! I can't believe how well he did and how easy it was - just like everyone said it would be. Ü

We've seen some changes in Ben already. Almost immediately he seemed quieter. Before he would always point at things and say "Da! Da!" but now he points and says "Oh!" He used to love the vaccuum and would follow me around while I used it - which I thought was weird because the other kids haven't ever been big vaccum fans. When I got the vaccum out shortly after his surgery he ran up to me all excited, but when I turned it on he grabbed his ears and ran away screaming. I felt so bad! I wonder what things really sounded like to him before? Before when he would "talk" to grandma or daddy on the phone he would just listen but now he says "hi" to them and answers their questions with his cute little "uh-huh." Today while putting him down for his nap I told him "I love you!" and he answered back with "oo." I'm going to count that as his first "I love you." Ü

We go back to Dr. Yin for a follow up appointment and hearing test on May 27th.
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Wow!! It sounds like he is having great results already!!  It can totally change there life if all of a sudden they can hear and respond.  I am so happy that he is making such fast progress in his speech.  Hooray!

Aldine Allen