The Adenoidectomy and it's aftermath

So here's how Girl Child's operation went down. All is fine so you don't actually have to read this post if you don't want.

The operation was scheduled for Friday about 2pm. She had to fast from 7 am but was allowed water until 11 am. Now the fasting was one issue I was worried about. Girl Child is a grazer. She likes food and likes it at regular intervals. Intervals that only seem to make sense to her.

We woke her up early so she would have time to be properly awake and eat. She was quite nervous so only ate a spoonful of cereal before deciding she wasn’t hungry. Not long after that she asked for toast but only ate a quarter of a slice.

She did well but started to get hungry about 9. Thankfully she understood why she couldn’t eat and was fine but did comment that she was hungry a few times. And then we left for the hospital early so we could buy her grapes for after the op at her request.

I was really impressed that nurse drew smiley faces on the EMLA (numbing) patches and gave the teddy she took a hospital bracelet, a cap and mask. Thanks for that. It was very much appreciated.



This photo is from today. Girl Child took the bear to school for news!

Have I mentioned Girl Child is stubborn? The anaesthetist wanted her to have panadol before the op but she refused to swallow it. She ended up spitting it out.

Now I'd been told by people who had been there that the worst part can be when your child goes under the anaesthetic. But I was lucky. Girl Child just lay still and went under. I was so proud. Of course it was still hard to leave her there. I felt an absurd urge to cry. The operation itself only took about 20 or so minutes and she came back to the recovery part of day surgery. It seemed significantly longer though.

She came back to day surgery quite sleepy. She decided she wanted an ice block. They gave her one and she almost immediately fell asleep. She spent about 3 hours asleep in two lots and I ended up waking her about 6.15 so we could go home.



The discharge instructions said to call if there was bleeding or a temp of over 38 degrees. She managed to have a bleeding nose on Saturday morning and to get a temp on Sunday.

The impressive thing on about the temperature was that she started 10 days worth of antibiotics on Friday and had already had paracetamol about an hour earlier yet her temp still rose .5 degrees. So I made the "Hi I'm just wondering when I should worry..." phone call to the hospital twice. Obviously the temperature rise was unexpected because the Dr rang to check up on her at 9pm on Sunday night. That was also greatly appreciated.

So since then she has been fine. Well a little more grumpy than usual and but no temperatures or bleeding. And best of all - she seems to be sleeping better!