Carter's surgery

On Wednesday Carter had an appointment with the ENT. I made it for him because his right tonsil was quite a bit larger than the other one. His tonsils are already really big, so because of the additional swelling he was having a hard time sleeping. He has also had a swollen lymph node on the right side of his neck for over a year that we had been watching. So the two symptoms together was enough for a trip to a specialist to see what we could do for this little guy.

Before the Dr. came into the room he had his P.A. come in to get us started. So upon his examination of Carter's nostrils he noticed that there was a foreign body (aka popcorn kernel) lodged inside his right nostril. Of course there is...for some reason this doesn't surprise me in the least bit. In fact me and my Mom found it so hysterical that we burst into laughter. I am sure the P.A. thought we were nuts. But you have to personally know this little guy to get the full effect of the situation. He's been known to give us trouble a time or two!!!

After assessing his tonsils and lymph nodes (apparently they were all swollen) Dr. Scheuller said that his right tonsil was a 4 and the left was a 3. They grade the size of tonsils from a 1 to 4, small to large. So they were big and very infected. He also said that his adenoids were as big as he had ever seen in a 4 year old. He also said that the lymph nodes were probably swollen due to prolonged infection of the tonsils and adenoids. So the solution is to take them out. But to make sure it wasn't from disease or cancer he was going to have his tonsils biopsied at the pathology lab. But noted that I shouldn't worry, that it's just a precaution...sure I'll do that! And then we scheduled the surgery for the next day! YIKES!

 

 When we were in the pre-op room Carter was really nervous. Which resulted in him freaking completely out when a nurse or doctor came in the room...fun times! I finally calmed him down by telling him that he could take his Woody doll and blankets with him...phew!

 Thank goodness for that wagon, it very well might have saved the day!

 See you soon dude!

 The first thing he said when he got out of surgery was "Mommy, I want to go home!" in pretty much the saddest voice I've ever heard. Then he took an hour nap, which must have helped because he woke up...

 drugged and happy! Thank goodness for pain medicine!

When we got home he threw up once but other than that he has done really good. He is pretty sore and only complains when it's time for him to have more Tylenol/ Advil. He must have a really high pain tolerance because he never even complained of a sore throat and according to Dr. Scheuller, he should have!We got a phone call the next day to say that the pathology report only showed infection and inflammation, no disease or cancer HOORAY! What a relief!!!

Carter did really good the first couple of days but got worse daily so we took him in a week after his surgery. He ended up having quite a bit of infection in the left side that they had to clean out. It came from  a nasty staph infection and he had to be put on another round of much stronger antibiotics. Poor little dude!

I am so happy that this little guy is on the road to recovery. I love you Carter.