Little Patient

August 11:

Molly has always been a dainty little thing. Almost everything about her is petite. Except, if you ever heard her sleep, you'd think she was a 300 pound linebacker! Seriously, the girl was LOUD! Crazy loud.

Back when Molly was a toddler, Dave began to worry that something wasn't quite right. At first (for a long time, actually) I downplayed it, chalking it up to some kids are just loud sleepers. But then she became not just a loud sleeper but a loud breather. All the time! And it was a little alarming (just ask Kim and Sarri) if you weren't used to it. It was as if just going about her day winded her. Poor thing. And then there were the tics that manifested. Oh the tics! When Grayson was 2 and 3 he stuttered, so of course I went straight to the speech and language specialist at my school in a panic, CERTAIN that he would suffer from the condition his entire life! He, uh, grew out of it a couple of months later. I should have learned my lesson. But when M's first tic surfaced--a highly annoying, constant blinking that she seemed to have no control over--I spent a few nights in tears, mourning the fact that my sweet daughter wasn't in perfect medical condition and that she CERTAINLY had Tourette Syndrome! Oops, maybe my diagnosis was wrong because, uh, she kind of stopped the blinking thing. Huh. Go figure! But then (and this gets us back to the whole breathing/throat issue) she started this most irritating snorting, sniffing thing that again, she seemed to have no control of. Ugh! Having to sit by her while watching a movie or reading a book was almost too much to handle! And I haven't even mentioned what her throat actually looked like! Before, I never gave much thought to what one's throat was supposed to look like, but when I looked at Molly's and then looked at Grayson's, I knew (as Dave had suspected for a long time already) that hers wasn't right. Thus began our quest to convince the doctors...

At age 3 no one, including her pediatrician and an ear/nose/throat specialist, denied that her tonsils were big. VERY big. But they also didn't act too concerned. Instead they took a "let's wait and see" approach. So we waited. And her breathing didn't get better. And her airway seemed to get smaller, if that was possible. A year of waiting was about all we could handle, and thankfully at her 4 year well-child appointment her doctor decided that perhaps it was time to actually do something. He supported us taking her back to see the specialist. And then her dentist took one look in her mouth at her regular cleaning and quickly affirmed that something definitely needed to be done. Good. We had people on our side just in case we needed to plead our case to the specialist. In fact, we thought we probably would have to plead our case because doctors, so we hear, don't routinely remove tonsils like they used to. There has to be a legitimate reason for them to operate. We of course thought our reason was legit. We didn't pay for a sleep study, but all of M's symptoms pointed to sleep apnea. So we were armed and ready earlier this month when we took her back to see the specialist. He took a (quick!) look in her mouth and said, "At this point I would suggest removing her tonsils and adenoids." But!...I prepared to launch into my argument...Wait. What??? He agreed with us? Thank God.

I was never scared about the surgery. It is, after all, a very common and relatively minor procedure. But nothing about it was common or minor for our sweet 4 year-old. Ugh. I felt sick that she was so, SO scared. And nothing I said was going to take her fear away. :( But in truth, the moment that they had to wheel her away from us into the operating room wasn't nearly as bad or as heart wrenching as I thought it was going to be. Likely, it was the medicine that they gave her beforehand that helped. It calmed her down just enough so that she wasn't in hysterics (or even crying, for that matter) when the nurse wheeled her out of the room. I know she was still scared though, and my heart is thankful that I didn't have to see the look on her face as she was wheeled thru the hallways.

Thankfully, the surgery went as planned and lasted just under an hour. And the best part? The very next day, less than 24 hours later, I COULD NOT HEAR HER BREATHE while she napped. All that laboring that she used to do just to get a breath...gone. The snorting tic...gone (so far). We are so relieved and so thankful!!!


Changing into her hospital jammies.


Showing off her giant tonsils one last time.


Daddy trying on M's hospital cap.

Holding up a very sweet letter that Grayson wrote, assuring her that everything would be okay.

The pre-anesthesia medicine kicked in, and she got silly!...

...but still scared. When it was time to go, she wouldn't let go of Dave's head. Sad. :)

Not wanting to go...

Scared but calm...

And off she went. Sob! (Not really. I was okay.)

Post-surgery. Sleepy girl battling a bit of nausea.

And then her eating streak began...2 popsicles, a slushy, an ice cream cup, 1 jello, a pudding, 2 bowls of mac and cheese, a smoothie, and a milkshake...all before bedtime! Wowzer.

Part of me has a feeling that my girl, who has been 32.5 pounds for 2 years now (!!!), is going to start growing like a weed! Stay tuned...