Bilateral Myringotomy

Last Thursday Nani had her 3rd set of tubes put in her ears. This was her 5th surgery. As with all surgeries, she had to fast from midnight until after her surgery which was scheduled for 12:40 pm the next afternoon. I tried to keep her up late the night before and feed her a late snack right before bed. She finally fell asleep around 10:30pm, but before she went to sleep, she got a blessing from her Daddy. We had been talking about this little procedure for a few weeks and she had been OK, even though I was honest about the possibility of it not feeling so good. I was really worried that she would be really hungry and cranky before the surgery, but to my surprise she woke up happy and not cranky at all even without breakfast. I helped her get dressed and go potty, then I let her play on the computer. I try not to let my kids play too much, but that morning, I let her play to her hearts content. It was a great distraction. She finally started asking for food around 10:00 am, so I decided that it was time to get out of the house. We packed a bag and set out for the library. When we got there, she didn't want to go in.
By this time I could tell that she was getting really nervous. I have never seen her get nervous before, so it was making me nervous too. She told me she wanted to go to CostCo, which on any other day would have been fine, but not that day. Too much temptation with the yummy food there. So I just drove around for a while, and Annie watched a movie in the van. Every few minutes she would tell me that she wanted to go home, or that she didn't want tubes.
We finally go to the outpatient surgery center at PCH , and after signing in we played with toys and read a few books. Her anxiety level decreased a lot because I think she felt at peace playing and seeing other kids going through the same thing. Finally we got to go back into a little waiting area where there were about 4 other kids waiting to go into surgery. This outpatient surgery center was great! It was so much less invasive than the 2 other tube surgeries that she has had. She was able to stay in her normal clothes during the surgery, and she didn't have to have an IV. The anesthesia that they used was great in that sense, but the doctor told me that because there was no IV, that she would probably wake up really cranky and be irritable for about 15 minutes. This I was used to, because she had similar instances with her other surgeries. It is the worst to try to comfort your child when they are semi-conscious. Anyway, I was prepared for the worst. She was still a bit nervous and was chewing on her fingers, which she never does. Finally the doctor came to get her, and I had to go to the waiting room. She was such a good girl, and went without a flinch. I waited on edge in the waiting room for about 15 min., and then her Doctor came out to tell me that it all went well. She had alot of fluid behind one of the eardrums and they sucked it all out and put the tubes in and everything was good. What a relief, but I was still kinda nervous about her waking up.
About 10 minutes after that a nurse came to get me and told me that she was so cute when she woke up. She just opened her eyes and looked around kinda dazed like and took it like a pro. She was already drinking her apple juice when I came back, and when I saw her I was so relieved. She was sitting up, looking a bit dazed, but otherwise perfectly content. She was in no pain, and didn't cry one bit. I asked her is she had gone to sleep, and she said, "No, I just blew up a balloon "(that's the trick the Anesthesia Dr. does to get them to sleep). I hugged her and said, "That was easy wasn't it?" Then she said "That was easy!". I also asked her if Jesus had helped her during her surgery, and she said that He had.
I feel so blessed to have had this tiny miracle. It may seem small and insignificant to some, but for me it was huge. To have my 3 year old go through surgery without one tear is a miracle to me. I know that Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of my needs, and the needs of my family, and that he can and will take care of us.