My poor sadly neglected blog! I keep meaning to write about the things that have been happening in our lives but I have been too busy living it to write about it! So what have we been doing... on August 31st Xander had PE tubes placed in his ears.
Not an experience I would like to repeat anytime soon but all in all it went well. We had to get up quite early and I was worried about how he'd do without being able to eat or more specifically drink but I got him up and just plopped him straight into the car and he didn't complain. When we got to the hospital we got registered right away and pretty quickly got taken back to the pre-op area. They were ready for him- in his little cubicle they had a dvd player with some kids movies and a wagon with pillows for him to cuddle in. We waited in pre-op for awhile while the Dr came to talk to us and the Anesthesiologist came to talk with us and then they gave him some oral versed- actually I gave it to him and he took it quite easily but then I thought for sure he was going to puke it right back up. Versed must not taste very good! But he managed to keep it down and after about 15 min he voluntarily lay down in the wagon with his stuffed elephant, at which point the anesthesiologist was like "that's our cue" and they wheeled him off down the hallway to the OR. That was a sucky moment- when literally I felt like I was putting my child's life in someone else's hands. I went out to the waiting room to sit and wait- longest 15 minutes ever! Thank goodness that it wasn't a long procedure b/c otherwise I would have been a total wreck. So the Dr came out, told me everything was fine and took me back to him and I swear it was a different kid. Alexander waking up from anesthesia is no fun at all! He was flailing and kicking and just screaming at the top of his lungs. It was awful- like he was awake but didn't know where and who he was. It took him a long time to calm down and then when he finally calmed he was having a hard time walking- he kept stumbling around like he was drunk- it was just unsettling to see him like that. Plus he just smelled like anesthesia- I don't know how to describe it but pts after they have anesthesia just have this nasty funky smell to their breath that I just think is nauseating.
Not an experience I would like to repeat anytime soon but all in all it went well. We had to get up quite early and I was worried about how he'd do without being able to eat or more specifically drink but I got him up and just plopped him straight into the car and he didn't complain. When we got to the hospital we got registered right away and pretty quickly got taken back to the pre-op area. They were ready for him- in his little cubicle they had a dvd player with some kids movies and a wagon with pillows for him to cuddle in. We waited in pre-op for awhile while the Dr came to talk to us and the Anesthesiologist came to talk with us and then they gave him some oral versed- actually I gave it to him and he took it quite easily but then I thought for sure he was going to puke it right back up. Versed must not taste very good! But he managed to keep it down and after about 15 min he voluntarily lay down in the wagon with his stuffed elephant, at which point the anesthesiologist was like "that's our cue" and they wheeled him off down the hallway to the OR. That was a sucky moment- when literally I felt like I was putting my child's life in someone else's hands. I went out to the waiting room to sit and wait- longest 15 minutes ever! Thank goodness that it wasn't a long procedure b/c otherwise I would have been a total wreck. So the Dr came out, told me everything was fine and took me back to him and I swear it was a different kid. Alexander waking up from anesthesia is no fun at all! He was flailing and kicking and just screaming at the top of his lungs. It was awful- like he was awake but didn't know where and who he was. It took him a long time to calm down and then when he finally calmed he was having a hard time walking- he kept stumbling around like he was drunk- it was just unsettling to see him like that. Plus he just smelled like anesthesia- I don't know how to describe it but pts after they have anesthesia just have this nasty funky smell to their breath that I just think is nauseating. So we headed home after the tubes and Xander did well
all things considered but he was in a funk for a few days. I almost wonder if his environment seemed more overwhelming since he could hear better. I do think that having the tubes placed and the congealed fluid sucked out of his inner ear has helped with his hearing. It has not been a dramatic, overnight change but gradually we are noticing improvements in his speech and understanding. He is mimicking more and he has several words that are quite clear now which were garbled before. He has used several 3 word sentences like "I want Ba (bottle)", "No my choo-choo", and "I did it!" (thank you Dora...). He calls James by "JJ" pretty consistently now and he has developed a new fascination with the television. He would watch Backyardigans before and liked that but almost anything else wouldn't hold his attention for more than 20 minutes. Now all of a sudden we hear "I want tv...tv...TV" more than I would like to admit. I was quite frustrated with it until Frank pointed out that he probably likes it more now b/c he can actually hear it! So in addition to Backyardigans he now enjoys Dora and Diego especially (it could be worse...Barney anyone?)
all things considered but he was in a funk for a few days. I almost wonder if his environment seemed more overwhelming since he could hear better. I do think that having the tubes placed and the congealed fluid sucked out of his inner ear has helped with his hearing. It has not been a dramatic, overnight change but gradually we are noticing improvements in his speech and understanding. He is mimicking more and he has several words that are quite clear now which were garbled before. He has used several 3 word sentences like "I want Ba (bottle)", "No my choo-choo", and "I did it!" (thank you Dora...). He calls James by "JJ" pretty consistently now and he has developed a new fascination with the television. He would watch Backyardigans before and liked that but almost anything else wouldn't hold his attention for more than 20 minutes. Now all of a sudden we hear "I want tv...tv...TV" more than I would like to admit. I was quite frustrated with it until Frank pointed out that he probably likes it more now b/c he can actually hear it! So in addition to Backyardigans he now enjoys Dora and Diego especially (it could be worse...Barney anyone?) Speech therapy continues and is going well at this point. Like I said we are seeing small 
improvements week by week in the number of words he is using, our comprehension of those words, mimicking, and his ability to create sentences. As we approach his turning 2 1/2 we will have his 6 month revaluation and assessment to determine where he falls developmentally. At age 3 he will age out of early intervention and into the school system so the preschool coordinator will hopefully be a part of this assessment so they can start developing an IEP for him (if he needs it) for when he starts preschool next year. I guess the benefit of him needing services would guarantee him a spot in the Winchester preschool. I should put his name on the wait list in any case.
improvements week by week in the number of words he is using, our comprehension of those words, mimicking, and his ability to create sentences. As we approach his turning 2 1/2 we will have his 6 month revaluation and assessment to determine where he falls developmentally. At age 3 he will age out of early intervention and into the school system so the preschool coordinator will hopefully be a part of this assessment so they can start developing an IEP for him (if he needs it) for when he starts preschool next year. I guess the benefit of him needing services would guarantee him a spot in the Winchester preschool. I should put his name on the wait list in any case. James has been pretty miserable the last couple of days b/c it looks like he is cutting some more giant honking teeth- I swear the kid has the teeth of a 5 year old! Hopefully he will be ina good mood tomorrow in time for his birthday party...yes can you believe it? My JJ is going to ONE year old tomorrow! Oh my goodness I have so much to do before his party- yikes! I promise all who are coming that I will try to have the house reasonably clean and enough food for all!
The pictures in the post are from our visit last weekend to the Franklin County Fair in Greenfield, MA. We had a great time and the kids seriously enjoyed the kiddy play tent b/c there were all kinds of tractors to play with. They ended the day by playing on a real life JD Gator- trying to convince mommy and daddy that we "need" one for the farm. Heck we'd never get Xander out of it! Doesn't James look like such a big boy trucking across the seat! More updates after JJ's party...
2 comments:
they are so cute!! i thought your dish was fried though. do you still have backyardigans saved on your DVR?
i totally know what you mean about the anesthesia smell. it is a very acute smell. it's nauseating just like you said. BLEH.
see you tomorrow! we may not sleep over, just go home after dinner, b/c there is an art show i want to go to sunday.
xo!
Backyardigans instantly via Wii from Netflix- thank god!
Post a Comment