After our first visit to the ENT... he recommended that Thatcher not only have tubes put in his ears... but that he have his adenoids taken out at the same time. Apparently, in addition to the fluid found on the MRI... he could tell that his adenoids were gigantic... So, three weeks later we had them taken out and the tubes put in.
Gearing up for the surgery... sorry about the photo quality... I only had my phone and it is not really a camera.
Post surgery... Initially they had planned on only using an anesthesia that they squirt up their nose... but during surgery his heart rate dropped and they had to intubate him which made him super cranky when he woke up. He was in a ton of pain. After staying a little longer than planned in recovery... we got to go home.
When we talked with the doctor... he told us that they had found that Thatcher had a horrible double ear infection the day of surgery so we had to start treating that with antibiotic ear drops. Also, he said he couldn't believe the size of his adenoids and thought that most likely, they had been the source of his raspiness. He also informed me that Thatcher would probably pick up walking pretty quickly now that he didn't have all of that fluid in his ears. When I told him that he had been walking for about a month before the surgery... he was shocked and said no way should that kid of been walking... he shouldn't have been able to balance. Finally, we were told to anticipate about a one to two week recovery full of crankiness, fevers, pain and drainage... oh, and wicked bad breath... did I mention bad breath... because you can not even imagine the smell. You would walk into his room and think... buddy, I need to change your diaper... nope, just his breath. We experienced all of the usual... and the poor boy was sure miserable. By day six when we were supposed to be done with the pain meds. and ear drops... Thatcher still had a constant fever and was in so much pain, as well as, starting to drain again from his left ear. When I called the ENT's office, they called in more pain meds for us and told us to keep using the drops. This was also the day that I went in for surgery... What was I thinking... Good thing it wasn't that big of a deal. Anyways... by the weekend, Thatcher was so much worse. By Saturday night, his fever wouldn't come down with meds, he had developed a cough and was beginning to sound super raspy again. On Monday, I took him in to see a pediatrician... not mine... but the only person in my guys office that could see him. Eme was also starting to show the cold symptoms so I took her in too. The guy was a real jerk and barely even looked at my kids. He confirmed that Thatcher still had an ear infection and that he had developed a viral pneumonia. He said it wasn't that big of a deal even though his oxygen saturation was only 92%. He barely even looked at Eme and said she was fine. He sent us home and only put Thatcher on oral antibiotics for his ear infection. The next day, I could tell that Thatcher had gotten even worse. He was super lethargic, wouldn't eat anything and his breathing was super fast and labored. I didn't know if I should take him in and my pediatrician was booked for the day and couldn't seem him. It wasn't until I counted his breaths per minute around 3 pm that I decided I better take him in. I looked up on the internet and his breaths per minute should have been below 40... he was at 90! I took him first to the respiratory nurse at Alta View hospital that was super nice and just checked his oxygen level for me to see if I needed to even take him in. He was right around 90%, where he was the day before, but she said combined with his breathing... he needed to go in. My mom and I then took him to the Kids Care there. First they sucked his snot out (still the hardest part of the whole ordeal)... then she sent us for a chest x-ray. Next, another go around with the suction... it would only keep him clear for about 5 minutes. Afterwards... she was ready to send us home with a prescription for as much suction as we needed at a respiratory clinic. Just as we were about to leave... she decided to try one more thing, a breathing treatment. I didn't want to do it because I had all of the stuff to do it at home, but she insisted. While screaming his guts out for the first half... he finally gave in and fell asleep for the second half. When he finished, his oxygen saturation dropped substantially, to 80% super fast. The nurse immediately grabbed the doctor and they put him on a liter of oxygen. At that point, she informed us that we would be going to Primary children's. My mom and I started to plan out which one of us would drive him and who would go to my house to grab a couple of things when the doctor turned to us and said... "ladies... this kid is going in an ambulance." So scary... my heart just dropped. The nurse called 911 and within minutes the fire fighters arrived. Then a few minutes later, the paramedics. They strapped him in his car seat and then to the gurney.
Luckily, I got to ride with him. He was terrified. While on our way to Primary's, he was on oxygen, they checked his glucose level (which was low) and kept track of his oxygen saturation. First, we had to go through the Emergency room at Primary's. When we got there, they sucked him out again and started to do a bunch of blood work and an IV... by this point, it was about eleven. Thanks to Tanner and Billy, Thatcher got an amazing blessing. By midnight the emergency doctor came in and told us that he had Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) which is an evil cousin of RSV. By 2:00 we were admitted to the 3rd floor. Throughout the night, they continued to monitor his vitals and suction him out. The next day, he was still refusing to eat but his oxygen saturation was coming up and his breathing was slowing down. He was even starting to play a little bit.
We thought we might go home that night but when the doctors came in for rounds, they told us that he needed to stay because he still wasn't eating or producing any wet diapers. It ended up being such a good thing too because his oxygen levels dropped during the night again. Then, around 4 in the morning, he was starving and finally starting drinking a bottle again. We were told that was all he needed to do to go home so we started packing up. We thought he would need to be suctioned one last time but he was so happy and wasn't that bad, that we didn't end up doing it.
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Ready to break out of there... Emerson came to take him home. The bummer thing was that she too had the virus... it just wasn't as severe in someone her age. I am pretty sure I had it as well and it just felt like the most horrible cold you can imagine. The next day... we followed up with a NEW pediatrician. He was amazing. Everything looked good except for his poor ears. Neither of his tubes were working and probably the cause of the continued ear infections. One was blocked with blood and the other appeared normal... but wasn't working. Rough... so now we are trying to clear them up and see if the drops help... but if not... back to the ENT. It never ends. We are just so grateful that he did as well as he did and that we ended up taking him in. This could have been so much worse. We are also so grateful for everybody that has helped us out with a meal or Emerson or just checking in with us. We have been so blessed.
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