Bye Bye Tonsils

Today Sabina had a tonsillectomy.

For the months leading up to this operation Sabina refused to discuss the surgery. She didn't want to think about it. I tried to talk it over with her to help her to ease into but she really wasn't having it.

Yesterday:
We had her two pre-op appointments. The first appointment was with the doctor performing the surgery. Sabina had a BIG list of questions for him. Here are a few:

* Have you done many tonsillectomies?
* Are other kids scared about surgery and if so, what do they do to not be scared?
* Will you have to draw blood today?
* How much school will I have to miss?

I was kind of worried that her list of questions was very long but the doctor was very accomodating to her and welcomed her questions and answered them very well for her. He took a lot of time to make sure that she was quite comfortable.

We then went to Manteca to the hospital to get her registered at the hospital for today and to meet the anesthesiologist. He was a nice man but I was a bit worried about the anesthesiologist because he spoke fast, moved fast and I was worried that he might make Sabina nervous. She seemed ok though and that was the end of the appointment. Sabina was on cloud 9 at that point because not only did she not have to do any blood work but she was told that there would be no invasive stuff done on her like putting in the IV tube or anything else while she was awake. They would simply put her to sleep and take care of it all then.

The funny thing is that Sabina started to get a little cocky about the whole surgery deal. She started talking about all of the stuff we will be doing after her surgery and didn't dwell on the surgery at all because she thought it would be a piece of cake. She did try to manipulate her situation though. We went shopping last night with Tio Ruben at Costco. Several times Sabi turned to one of us and asked us to buy her something "because I am having surgery tomorrow." Oh ... I forgot to say that she added a pouty mouth with big eyes to try and seal the deal too!

This morning:
We arrived at the hospital at 7:30. Her procedure was scheduled for 9:20. Sabina lost it as soon as we walked into the pre-op room and was asked to change. She cried a bit but the nurses took good care of her. VERY GOOD CARE! About 1 hour later a new anesthesiologist came to check in with Sabina and tell her that she was going to take care of her. I was a bit mad that a new doctor was assigned but as it turned out - this guy was SO amazing with her. He was so kind and thoughtful of her feelings and situation. He let me come with the crew and Sabina into the OR. I got to stay with her while she was being put to sleep. He made it quite amusing for her. He told her that he was going to take her on an airplane ride to San Diego to visit Lego Land and Sea World. With one hand he held her face mask. With the other hand he played with the switches on her bed moving her up and down like she might feel on a plane ride as well as turning the knobs and switches to release the oxygen into her mask as well as the medication to put her to sleep. During all of this he did a great Sponge Bob impression. Sabina laughed her way to sleep. He then told me to give her a kiss before I left. I reached over to take her stuffed animals that she took into the OR with her and he stopped me and said that I should keep them there because she would want them when she woke up. As I left the room I was a bit teary eyed. The interesting thing was that it wasn't because I was worried about Sabi. It was because I knew that she was in great hands.

About 25 minutes later, I was called into the recovery room. I couldn't believe it - it was so fast. Sabina was sitting up and looked great! The first thing she asked for was her Care Bears coloring poster that we had in the car. I didn't even have the chance to kiss her! I ran out to get her stuff and she got to work right away coloring and talking with me. Amazing! We stayed at the hospital another 1 and 1/2 hours. During the entire time she kept refusing pain medication and managed to eat a popsicle. The nurses kept coming over to chat with her, play with her stuffed animals and watch Harry Potter with her.

Since we have been home, Sabina has still not complained about pain and has managed to eat more popsicles, some applesauce and for a special treat - KFC mashed potatoes for dinner.

I don't know how she will be tomorrow but if things keep going at this rate, she will have a great recovery.

I am so, so, so pleased that this whole ordeal went well and is just about over. I am also hoping that it will put an end to the endless sore throats, fevers and infections that she has been plagued with.