Three Little Hams: ACH...Again...

Our poor little Lucas had his third surgery just shy of his 4th birthday. This was the most minor surgery of them but he still had to be put under and that is just scary!! He had only one ear infection when he was baby (had adenoids and tonsils out because of sleep apnea), that was it! Starting this past May he began his long journey (felt like it at the time) of ear aches...seemed kind of crazy, it was summer not winter. He had about 3 infections but they lasted well over a month each and was on 2 antibiotics in a row to get rid of them. I was noticing more and more in his eyes (even when they said no infection) that something wasn't right, then he would say occasionally his ear hurt. I took him to his ENT and told him my concerns. He said unfortunately a doctor needed to see fluid in his ear 3 times before he could do tubes (it had only been twice at that time). He did a test to see the pressure and fluid that couldn't be seen by the eye. The pressure in the right ear was really bad and left was borderline. At that time there was no fluid.. He explained the pain Lucas was saying is from the pressure. It would feel like going through the mountains or in a plane and your ears get that pressure and need to pop, he said that's what he is feeling all the time :'( How horrible for the guy!!! He said the next time there was fluid he would do the tubes. Well it started to get worse and then I started to notice some hearing loss. I talked to his preschool teacher and she said she noticed it too, but wasn't sure if that was him or if something was wrong. If he was being his ornery self he would give you this ornery grin but sometimes he looked at you like he really had no idea what you just said. So I took him to his pediatrician to tell her my concerns too (hoping she could recommend them since there is hearing loss involved). Come to find out he had an ear infection. In a way I was relieved because I knew there was no pushing for them, that she would right away request it. They tried one antibiotic and it was still there so she said call Dr. Nelson and get him scheduled for tubes. We were able to get into him just a few days after.. They right away said too, yes tubes are needed. He was on his 2nd antibiotic and there was still quite a bit of fluid and this time the pressure was really bad in both ears. They did a hearing test and it was pretty good, his speech wasn't as clear as it should be (another thing I had started to notice it was becoming more and more difficult to understand him). I was so thankful they scheduled them, it had been a rough while with Lucas. Nothing was relieving the pain, he was starting to get bad behavior, his hearing was getting worse. I just wanted to take all the pain away he was having!!! Thursday, December 5th he was scheduled to get tubes in both ears :)

He was soo excited to go, as I was explaining to him the few days before, trying to prepare him, he heard his ears will no longer hurt and he was beyond excited!!! We got to the hospital around 11 and pre-registered. Then up to the surgery floor we went. His surgery wasn't til 1 but til all the nurses and anesthetic doctor came into see us the time flew by. They took him out of our room at 12:52, we went over to the waiting room and got a snack out of the vending machine (we were starving, didn't eat all day since Lucas couldn't) sat down ate a few bites and we hear the family of Lucas Hamsher :) Doctor came out to let us know he did good :) He went over what he did and instructions (which there are no restrictions other than 2ft or more under water he needs ear plugs) and answered our questions. We had to wait then til he woke up, was just a few more minutes then they called us :) As soon as we went back he popped up and had this huge smile :) I held him right away and he immediately drank a juice box, he was thirsty!! They said he came back to the first recovery room at 1, so the surgery had to of only taken a few minutes, that is it!! So crazy. They had said it would be short but I didn't expect it that short. We were only there a few minutes and then to the 2nd recovery room we went :) He got to eat a popsicle in this room, which he was excited. We were there for about 25 minutes and they freed us to go :) They had originally said about an hour in each recovery room but he was doing so good, there was no reason to keep him any longer, we left the hospital at 2. He was hungry and we were hungry so we stopped at Red Robin on the way home (he wanted to stop). Was yummy!! That evening he was already a crazy little boy! He was non-stop til we said it was bed time. Just running around, being loud, just being Lucas. I knew he had been in pain but I don't think I quite realized how bad it was because he isn't one to complain a whole lot about it. Yes he's been an ornery little stinker since but I would take this any day over what he was starting to become!!! I missed his silly sayings all the time and the crazy things he comes up with, which was becoming less and less.

One silly story that I must share ;) We are sitting in the TV room and hear a big bang and Lucas yelling Mama I started to fly :) He had jumped off the stepping stool and apparently started to fly...yep I think our Lucas is back, wahoo!!!!!!! :)