T & A Complete!

Taylor's tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy are complete!!!  She had the surgery yesterday and after a long night last night.......we are home!!!

The surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am, so we were told to be there at 5:30am.  It was a early morning!  On Monday night, the anesthesiologist called to discuss her surgery and asked the standard family history questions.  Well, when I told her that a cousin of mine had a adverse reaction (called Malignant Hyperthermia) to anesthesia, she didn't seem too concerned because I have had several surgeries and never had any sort of reaction.  Malignant Hyperthermia, also known as MH, is a genetic condition that causes a fast rise in body temperature and severe muscle contractions when a person goes under general anesthesia.  Their body usually starts to shut down and they go into cardiac arrest.

The next morning when we showed up, though, it was a different story.  The anesthesiologist must have done a little research and they decided  that even though I have never experienced MH in my surgeries, it doesn't mean I am not a carrier for it.  MH usually gets triggered by certain anesthetic drugs, particularly being the "gas" ones they use on children to start the process of putting them under.

The original anesthesiologist decided she was not comfortable doing the surgery and she wanted us to have a someone that specializes in MH patients.  So, we waited for a while to find out whether they could find someone on short notice or whether we would have to reschedule the surgery.  Luckily, they found a specialist at Children's Hospital.......someone who does lectures and teaches others about MH.  So, needless  to say, she was good at what she does.

Someone who has MH in their history can have surgery......just not the "gas" and not certain drugs.  With Taylor, they had to give her a drug that she drank to make her a little loopy.  Then, they gave her an IV, while she was awake, before she could get the "sleepy" drugs.  I was a little nervous about them giving her an IV while she was awake but she was so out of it that she didn't know what was going on.  Actually, she sat and watched the whole thing.  I was trying to distract her but she insisted upon watching it.

Once Taylor finally got into the surgery, everything went smooth and routine!  The ENT said that it was a good thing we had her tonsils removed.  They were so big that they were starting to "snake" down her throat.  That is crazy!!

The first thing Taylor said when she was in recovery was, "Where is my giraffe?"  Well, we had to bribe her that she could get this giraffe we saw in the gift shop if she drank the medicine to relax her.  You would think that she would have forgotten about it........Oh No!  Not Miss Taylor!  She has the memory of a steel trap!  That was the first thing she wanted, even though she could barely hold her head up.  So, Gigi went and bought the giraffe as a "Get Well" gift!

Taylor is doing better than I could have imagined!  I was expecting a whole lot worse, I guess.  The night of her surgery, she ate a big ole' bowl of mac n cheese, yogurt and ice cream!  I was surprised to see her appetite in full force!  I think the tough part of the recovery is going to be keeping her from running around and making her stay a little more mellow than usual.  I am hoping that she continues to have a smooth recovery.......I have heard that around day 7, when the scabs start to fall off, that the pain can be bad again.

Here's to praying that Miss Taylor continues to do well!!!