So, I need to start this post with "Jackson is doing just fine." For over a month, Jackson has been back and forth to the pediatrician for ear infections. We gave him a series of progressively stronger antibiotics, but the infection wouldn't go away. Finally the pediatrician recommended for us to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist, to discuss tubes. We decided to go for it, mostly because of Jackson's age, and the suggestion by the ENT that Jackson seemed like a likely candidate for repeated and continual ear infections.
The surgery was this past Tuesday, and the picture in the header is Jackson pre-operation, and then post-operation later that day (in his saucer, having a grand old time).
As I mentioned above, we had been taking Jackson to the doctor on a weekly basis for about five or six weeks running. The final straw was, after two weeks of progressively stronger antibiotics, I got a call from day care - Jackson was feverish and listless. The Ladies had put Jack into one of their exersaucers (one of Jackson's favorite things), and he just laid his head down. When Miss Mara called me, I flew out of work, calling the pediatrician along the way to make an appointment. When we got to the doctor's office, they determined that the ear infection was not responding to the antibiotics, so they were going to give him a course of injected antibiotics, with the first of three shots that afternoon, the second for the next day, and the third on Monday, with a follow-up scheduled for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We were anticipating an uneventful follow-up, but we should have suspected something, when the doctor (at the Monday appointment) suggested we also give Jack oral antibiotics in addition to the final injection he received.
I took Jack to the doctor on Wednesday, and his ears were no better. The pediatrician was concerned about the lack of progress, and made us an appointment with the ENT for that morning... she said that Jackson would most likely need tubes. Because of the immediacy of the appointment with the specialist, and the fact that I was a little crazy about Jack needing tubes, I didn't quite understand, and I thought Jackson was getting tubes that day... I freaked, called Jesse and my Momma, and rushed over to the ENT. Jesse met me there...
The ENT was great - I was especially impressed by the fact that the doctor came out to the waiting room himself, as opposed to having a nurse take people back, and then having to wait in the little room. He looked into Jack's ears, and recommended tubes. I was reassured though, that he weighed the pros and cons with us, and that he was honest in that Jackson would probably suffer no long-term effects from not having the surgery... just a winter full of ear infections, possible fevers, antibiotics, and discomfort. So, we opted for the surgery.
Our instructions pre-op were to not feed Jackson after midnight (the reason for the blog title). We were the first surgery scheduled - they take the most serious cases first, and then go by age, and Jackson was the youngest patient that day (fortunately there weren't many serious cases). We got to the surgical center at 7:00am as asked, and they took Jack with us around 7:20am. The anesthesiologist explained his part of the procedure, and the ENT came back to talk with us, then the nurses took Jack back... we were allowed to walk back with the nurses to the doors to the surgical area, and we gave him Sebastian to keep him safe since we couldn't be in the operating room.
Jesse and I then had to go to the waiting area and... well... wait. Fortunately, the surgery didn't take that long, and we were back with Jackson around 8:00am. The ENT did come out after the surgery to explain the post-operation instructions. He was a bit witty and funny - under normal circumstances I think I would have appreciated his humor, but not then... I'm glad he had a sense of humor though - it took my mind off of worrying a bit.
Jackson was crying when we got back to the room, but understandably so, and he stopped crying as soon as he saw us. I was able to nurse him, and he had no trouble latching or sucking, which can sometimes be painful after the ear surgery. Jackson's a Benner though, so there's no stopping him from eating!! We were able to take Jackson home by 8:20am... he cried the whole car ride home, but not because he was in pain... he wanted snuggles.
My mom came over and brought lunch, which was very welcome in that we didn't have to think about eating or making meals (I'm so lucky I have family that lives close by). She tried to keep Jackson occupied and laughing, which worked for a few hours, but then Jackson got a little cranky, and only wanted to be held. I put on my wrap and just held him - I felt so close to Jack... It reminded me of our days home alone together when I was on maternity leave. I will say that my back and shoulders ached from standing and rocking Jackson - he weighs over twice as much now!! But I didn't even feel it until afterwards... I appreciated being able to hold Jackson close and snuggle him tight. I know there will come a time that I won't be able to make his discomfort go away by just holding and kissing him... I just want ot hold onto this time for as long as I can, when making it all better is so easy.
Jackson is fine now... he's as happy as he was before the surgery, and he's sleeping through the night now (we put him down around 7pm, and he sleeps through until 4am) where he used to wake up at least once if not twice in the night. We have to be careful not to get his ears wet... So, no food after midnight... no getting wet... and Jackson doesn't like sun in his eyes... that's it!!! He's totally Gizmo!!! (image borrowed from here: http://www.geekalerts.com/u/humming-gizmo.jpg)Other than that, not much else to report. I'll have some posts up about Thanksgiving - Jackson's first bit of turkey and mashed potatoes, fun with his cousins, and Jackson as a turkey...
But, some more Daddy/ Jackson pre-surgery cuteness:
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