More Ear Tubes and an Adenoidectomy

Our sweet little Corey had to have another set of tubes put in his ears a couple of weeks ago. At his 18 month checkup, our pediatrician saw that they had fallen out and that he had a double ear infection. He wasn't showing any symptoms of having an ear infection, so this was news to me!  However, I did notice that he was falling down a lot (from the fluid messing with his equilibrium) and didn't talk as much for his age.

Me and my man in Pre-Op

Upon meeting with the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor a week later, she recommended that Corey also get his adenoids removed. The ENT doctor also had him take a hearing test and he scored below normal, so we needed to move fast for fear of early hearing loss.  So our little guy, almost an entire year later, had to go in for surgery again - but this time instead of his recovery only lasting for a day or so, we had to keep him home for 5 days for the adenoidectomy.  :(

The day of the surgery, Paul had to take Ashley to preschool, so I took Corey to the hospital to get checked in and start pre-op.  I thought Corey would be a mess since he had to fast, but he was great! They gave him the baby Valium about 30 minutes before his surgery, and he was definitely acting like he had a few too many Margaritas at happy hour! His "drunk song" was from the song "Old McDonald".  ...."eeeyi, eeyi, yo!" I didn't catch much of it on this video, but afterward, he kept singing that part over and over again.

Paul almost didn't make it to see him before they wheeled him away. I told the nurse that he was on his way and she said that we couldn't hold out much longer, but that we would walk REALLY slowly to the operating room from the pre-op area.  So here we were walking as slow as ever, pushing the bed down the hall, when finally we hear the elevator beep and out from around the corner comes Paul! Phew! That was close! So glad he was able to give him his kisses and hugs before they took him to surgery.

Holding on tight to Mommy

The surgery lasted about 30 to 45 minutes and then finally we were able to see him.  He was so precious still laying there in recovery, out like a light. He woke up here and there groggy, but just wanted to be held. After about an hour in recovery, Corey finally took some sips of apple juice and we were ready to go.  Once we got home he slept practically the whole day, which was fine. It was so nice cuddling up with him like when he was a baby and not a crazy toddler on the move! I cherished every second.

Corey cuddling me in the recovery room.

After a couple of days into recovery, we started noticing "the stench." I was warned that he may experience some bad breath as a result of the adenoidectomy, and even my friend Sue posted on my Facebook wall to watch out for the smell. Let me tell you...it was the worst smelling breath ever! I tried brushing his teeth often but it didn't do any good.  It reminded of the smell from our family cat, Puff. She was old and had rotten teeth and between the rotten teeth and the smell of her cat food was just plain horrid. That is kind of what Corey's breath smelled like! LOL. Thankfully after about 10 days, it was over. :)  He did well with recovery, but definitely needed the heavier drugs for sleeping at night. Poor baby.

Reading during his recovery time at home. Can you stand this picture?? :)

He has a follow up appointment at the end of this month so we'll see how the tubes are doing. They will also retest him for hearing. Let's cross our fingers that he is hearing in the normal range! :)