Take away some tonsils, add some trains and OJ, and you get a growing boy

If you read my post about Trey's surgery, you know that Trey had his tonsils and adenoids out.  If you have been checking the blog since July 29th and wondering how it went, I apologize for the delay. 

A long story short?  Trey did awesome, and we think the surgery was a total success. 

Read on if you want more details and pictures.  

We didn't tell Trey about his surgery until the morning of our appointment.  Randy and I went back and forth on it, but we ultimately decided he didn't need to know ahead of time because he wouldn't understand what we were talking about and it might make him anxious.  I think our decision was a good one, and I'm not even sure Trey knows he had surgery even to this day.

Waiting in the waiting room 

Happy before surgery

They do a great job of keeping the little ones busy until it's go time. 

We checked in at 8:30am, they took Trey back around 9:50, we were called back to the recovery room by 10:30, and we were on the road to go home by noon.   It was fast.  A few quick thoughts: we were able to avoid the pre-surgery anxiety medication for Trey which they said would improve his recovery time, and we were grateful for that.  My dad and sister came to wait with us in the waiting room and saw Trey before we left for home.  At one point, Randy went downstairs to get a soda, and it was my dad, my sister, and I waiting in the waiting room.  Felt a little too deja-vu for me, and I did not like it one bit.

They called us into recovery because Trey was quite agitated and calling for his mommy.  I have another picture of this time where Trey is very upset, but I'm opting not to post it.  No one needs to see Trey like that.  Let's just say we were warned that him coming out of anesthesia could be rough, and it was.  Luckily, they kept upping the morphine and he finally settled down.  We headed home at noon, and Trey took a good nap.

Grandpa Gerts was pretty worried about the whole shebang, 

and he was there when Trey woke up from his nap.   

On the night of the surgery, Trey was upright and eating and drinking like a champ.  We were shocked.  I had been warned that he might not consume much for days, but we felt like he ate more on the two days after surgery than he had in the two weeks prior.  The surgeon told us after his surgery that his tonsils were so big they were almost touching.  We definitely think this was impacting his swallowing and his growth.   I have also been told by the ENT resident that he is probably growing more because he's not burning so many calories while sleeping due to the difficulty with breathing.  Who knew?

The main issue we had was Trey would not take his medicine.  We were able to sneak it into his orange sherbet a few times, but that was short lived.  Ultimately, we put it in his orange juice and told him that if he drank his orange juice he wouldn't have to take his medicine.  Luckily, we were able to stick with ibuprofen and didn't have to use any of the hard stuff.  

Feeling better? 

My mom and I used to lie feet to feet on the couch and watch Emergency when I was little.  I found this moment where Trey and I were feet to feet watching a show to be extra-special.  

So, overall, Trey's recovery was pretty awesome.  We spent A LOT of time playing and that consisted mostly of trains, farm, Sesame Street, and more trains.  He would have me set up the train track in the living room, play for about 15 minutes, and then he would want me to move it out to the deck and set it up there, play for about 15 minutes, and then move it back to the living room.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  All. Day.  Long.

 Every once in a while I could squeeze in some Legos.

Eating a popsicle and watching a show

Notice the train? 

More trains 

They tell you that the young ones recover quickly from this surgery, but I was skeptical based on some horror stories I had been told (life lesson: don't scare the shit out of moms by telling them horror stories right before a surgery).  I was shocked (SHOCKED I tell you) at how well Trey handled the recovery from the surgery.  He did great up until days 5-7 which I have heard is very normal due to the scabs coming off.  I think combining this along with some poor sleep led to a weekend FROM HELL on days 5-6.   This was accompanied by night terrors and almost put me over the edge.  Luckily, it was short lived and by Monday morning he was back to normal.  

One month out from surgery and we had a follow up weight check at the pediatrician's office.  He weighed 26 lb 14 oz on the day of surgery (about a half pound less than when he turned two), and four weeks later, he weighed 29.5 pounds.  That's almost three pounds in a month!!!  My pediatrician said she has never had a patient who has had this happen before.  I am hoping that along with the good health and weight gain that Trey is experiencing, maybe our doctor will be able to notice this in a future patient.  I'm telling you, if it wasn't for Weissbluth's section on snoring and underweight kids, Trey would still be on the Pediasure train to nowhere.