Ear Tubes for Sammy

Sammy had her surgery today to put tubes in her ears.  The surgeon was able to fit her in sooner because of a cancellation.  I was told she couldn't eat anything after midnight the night before but that I could nurse her until 3:30 am.  So I woke up at 2:30 am and nursed her.  We then got up at 4:30 am and were out the door by 5:25 am to make sure we got to Mass Eye and Ear by 6 am.  Sammy made it easy on us and woke up at 5:10 am all on her own.  It was all pretty organized.  We signed in and they took us back and asked all sorts of questions.  They made Sammy wear some scrubs, which were way too big.

She was pretty cute wandering around in this get up.  I put scrubs on over my clothing and went with her into the operating room.  She got a banana scented mask placed over her face and after 6 or 7 good cries, she went to sleep.  I then waited with my husband in the waiting room.  I couldn't believe how quickly they did the surgery.  The doctor was out to talk to us about 8 minutes after I left the OR.  She said that Sammy's ears were clear (not even any fluid in there), but that she could see that her eardrums had thickened, which is a sign of some bad infections.

It took Sammy another 15 minutes to wake up and when she did, they called me back to be with her.  She was very sleep and disoriented but did pretty good.  I held her for 10 minutes or so and then when they let me, I nursed her.  She nursed and slept and nursed and slept and nursed and slept for about 40 minutes and then we went back up to the pediatric unit where they monitored her some more.  We were discharged with some ear drops and out the door by 9:30 am.  I can't believe the whole thing only took 3.5 hours total.

She slept on the way back home and then she took another nap while we took a nice long walk in the afternoon.  I would say she was back to her normal smiley Sammy self by 1 pm, and even more so after her afternoon nap.  I hope these tubes work for her.  The doctor said they would probably stay in for about 1 year.  Let's hope that after they fall out, she'll have outgrown the ear infections.  Fingers crossed!