This past Tuesday Elic had surgery. He had what they call the "Blue Plate Special"- tonsils and adnoids removed and tubes put in. He was such a trooper. He really has a high tolerance for pain and has lived with fluid in both ears almost all his life. They said he had mild hearing loss in one ear and probably heard things like he was in a fish bowl (which hopefully explains some of his speech patterns). The last few months I had noticed that he would say "What you say, Momma" a lot, especially in the car when he couldn't see my lips as I would talk to him. But the main reason we wanted the surgery was for the removal of his GINORMOUS tonsils. The ENT said they were 4+; four times the normal size and they were touching each other! Dr. Trone has his office at Medical City, Dallas. We have always used Presby, so this was a new experience for us all. The children's hospital was wonderful. All the nurses and child life specialists were fantastic and put Elic (as well as mom and dad) at ease. They brought a blanket with dinosaurs on it for him to have as a keep sake as soon as we entered the room. After getting his vitals and having him drink the goofy juice we headed out to the holding area.
Since Darren was already in the bed with Elic, they let him have a ride to the holding area.
Nana and Papaw came to be with us during the surgery.
That goofy juice starts working pretty quickly. I couldn't quit taking video of Elic because he was cracking me up!
He was OBSESSED with the pulse monitor on his finger. He tried, and finally succeeded, in removing it. The nurse brought him a portable DVD so we could watch the Backyardigans while we waited (and to try and take his mind off the pulse monitor). He would get real, real close to the screen and he tried to sing along- just hilarious. Here's footage of his silliness:
We loved the light coverings. He chose the room with the fish. Our nurse said they had just gotten these a few months ago. Sometimes little things like that sure help to make you feel more comfortable, even in a hospital.
The actual surgery takes only 10 minutes, but then with recovery time he was back there about half an hour total. He woke up groggy and crying because of the IV in his hand. They came and got me and Darren and Darren was able to hold him while he slept. He drank as soon as he woke up which is great because most people don't want anything on their throats. He slept most of the day, but did finally get up and eat around 5pm.
Darren and my mom headed home to take Preston to t-ball practice and get Holden to bed. I stayed with Elic and we explored all over our floor. They have wagons and little cars for the kids to get around in. They had several game rooms where we could play and check toys out to take back to our room. He, of course, chose a basketball goal and a ball (which he insisted on sleeping with). We read books in their library and we even rented a Scooby Doo movie to watch after eating Mac-n-Cheese. He had popsicles and lots of apple juice!
Elic loved tossing the ball around in front of this Mickey Mouse statue. Darren came back up to the hospital and spent the night with us. We only had one extra bed in the room so we switched off sleeping with Elic in his bed (makes for a long night). He did great, except that the nurses had to check his vitals and give him medicine every three hours and he did not like getting woken up (he gets that from his mom). The next day we played a little bit more, but mostly I pulled him around and around the hallways in the wagon while we waited on our discharge paperwork. We are so thankful to have this over and that he has done so well with his recovery. We are watching what he eats, nothing with sharp edges, and trying to get him to take it easy (which is hard for a 2 year old). We really can already tell a difference in his speech. He's easier to understand. His voice is higher- Preston noticed it right away and said "He sounds funny". I love, love, love his little voice now- so cute! He sleeps better, with his mouth closed! We're very satisfied with the outcome of the surgery. Thank you for all the prayers, they have certainly been answered. Here's one last video of Elic trying to sing the Scooby Doo theme song while on the goofy juice. Enjoy!
Elic did sing a little of each of the songs and even threw in a few hand motions.
Doesn't Preston make the handsomest football player? I tried not to think about this being his very last program at Sunshine School but I truly can't believe he won't be there with me next year.
I was so proud of Preston for singing all the songs and saying his memory verse. He usually gets so shy that he just stands there until it's over.
Once all the grade levels performed by themselves, the whole school came on stage to do a chant and say a memory verse. Darren took this next picture and it's won the award for the funniest picture from the whole night. I thought this was a picture of Elic's friend Hillary. But no, look close.
It's Elic but Hillary's hair is surrounding him so he looks like a girl! I guess that might be the closest thing Darren and I will have to a little girl in our family.
Elic had a great year in Mrs. Andrea's class. She has more patience than anyone I know. Elic knows his ABCs, how to count to 20, and he can count to 10 in Spanish. Andrea was also a part of potty training Elic. She definitely started Elic's school career off on the right path!
This was Elic's sweet 2s class.
Look at those Hughes' boys.
Here are some of Preston's best friends from his 4s class.
Preston has grown so much this year. Mrs. Heather gave him a love for writing and reading books. At the beginning of the year Preston would tell me he was "allergic to writing" and now he loves to write the sounds he hears in words, all by himself. Look out kindergarten, he we come!
We ended the night with some Marble Slab ice cream- it doesn't get better than that. Now that school is over we are super excited about summer. Our first item to check off our summer to-do list, spend a week at the beach in Florida! I'll end this post with a few clips from the program- enjoy!
