T&A and Ear Tubes :-(

We don't have the date of the surgery yet, but Elizabeth will be having a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A) and ear tubes...likely in January. Happy 4th Birthday to you, Elizabeth!

I am confident that everything will be great after the surgery, but it is quite scary to sign off on the consent form that says that the anesthesia can cause death. (Any bets on whether or not Nana is now leaving the Blog site right this very minute to get the statistics on this on WebMD.)

There was fluid present in her ears today...so she has basically had fluid in her ears for at least 2+ months. Poor thing! She also was evaluated by an audiologist today who said that Elizabeth's hearing capability was a little below normal as a result of the fluid in her ears.

For 10 days prior to the surgery, E will only be allowed Tylenol if she is in need of pain medication. According to info from Dr. Chris, we can expect:

• Sore throat (lasting 7-10 days)
• Ear pain (this is listed for both the tubes & the T&A -- but for the tubes, it said that the ear pain would likely subside within 12-24 hours)
• Bad breath
• Scabs in the throat
• Fatigue/flu-like feelings (lasting 7-10 days)
• There can be a small amount of bleeding from her ears from the tubes, but it should dry up within 24 hours
• Her hearing could improve the day of the surgery

The procedure for the tubes takes about 5 minutes. We don't have a time-frame for how much longer it will take for the T&A. If E were only getting the tubes in her ears, this would be relatively uneventful recovery as the only restriction is dealing with the potential water in the ears. We will be getting her custom-fit ear plugs for bathing/swimming -- as she prides herself on being able to go under water for over 10 seconds at a time!

Due to the T&A, she will need to be on a soft-food diet until she can tolerate otherwise. She is allowed "no strenuous lifting, running, or straining for 2 full weeks (fat chance!). She will have to be at home for at least 7 days following the surgery. Also, because of the risk of post-operative bleeding for up to 2 weeks after the surgery (in 3-5% of the surgeries...that will save Nana a trip to WebMD), she is not permitting to travel beyond 20 minutes from home. She will be on an antibiotic for a week following the surgery, too.

We were able to get her X-ray from Friday. Über-cool! Thanks, Dr. Chris! :-)

If anyone want the image without the text I've inserted, let me know...as I know Elizabeth is blessed to be related to some medical (Jeff) and scientific (Cathy) geeks! ;-)