surgery

WARNING:  This post does include some pictures!

I got a bit silent on this topic but I had stapedectomy surgery on my left ear this past week.  Kara and I met with the surgeon over a month ago and were thrilled to learn that I was a candidate for a stapedectomy on both my left ear and on my right ear.  The surgeon is extremely optimistic that the surgery will be extremely successful on both my ears.  Kara and I discussed the matter in length and we decided, based on several factors, that surgery is the best route for us at the moment.  We would begin with trying to fix my left ear and then reevaluate things at a later date to see if I would also get the operation on my right ear.  So fast forward to today and I'm in the recovery period from stapedectomy operation #1.

It was an outpatient surgery.  The surgery itself was very straightforward but it was a stressful several weeks leading up to the surgery date.  I was paranoid about getting sick and with toddlers around the house someone is always sick.  Plus there was just so many unknowns about what to expect from surgery.  I also loathe hospitals and the only other "surgery" I've ever had done is getting my wisdom teeth taken out and at least that's done in a doctor's office.  So needless to say my anxiety was a bit high.

The surgery was done at the same hospital where I delivered the boys.  But the hospital has been completely remodeled since they were born so it actually felt like we were in a totally new place.  The surgery center was absolutely beautiful.  We have never had a bad experience at this hospital and that continued through this visit too.  I was scheduled to arrive at 8:15am and my surgery was scheduled for 10:15am.  So of course that means a lot of anxiety filled waiting for surgery.  We got a parking spot right in front of the building and I was of course worried that our lucky streak would end with that parking spot.  I'm such a negative person.  We got all registered for the day and then I just waited to be called back to the pre-op area.  The waiting room was jammed full of people.  They gave Kara a pamphlet with my "ID" # and it corresponded to a description on this television screen that would tell Kara where I was at any given time.  A nurse finally came out to get me.  Of course before I could begin this grand adventure I had to prove I wasn't pregnant.  They wouldn't even give me a gown to change into until I did this!  Thankfully I was not pregnant.  Sigh.  And then I got shown to my pre-op room which was room #12!  I took that as a very good sign.  I got all changed into a gown that was 500 sizes too big and then the nurse came in and did all the pre-op stuff.  They did my blood pressure, an EKG, and my took pulse.  Of course my heart was racing away quite fast.  A bit nervous!  The nurse then asked me the standard bazillion questions and then got my IV started.  They actually put the IV in my right hand.  I thought it would be painful but the nurse was absolutely wonderful.  They started me on IV antibiotics and then just IV fluids.  Once we got all that done they let Kara come back and wait with me.  We had about 45 minutes until surgery.  It was a long 45 minutes.  I watched the clock and asked the nurse to pee about 15 minutes before surgery (thanks to a nervous stomach and IV fluids).  That was good timing.  As soon as I got back my surgeon came in to mark my ear and make sure I understood the entire process.  It was weird because those were the only 3 minutes I would actually see my surgeon the entire day.  Kara and I knew that things would start to move fast after that point so we went ahead and gave our kisses to each other.  And in the end Kara just kind of left the room without me ever knowing it and it helped my nerves tremendously.  It normalized everything for me and I didn't need to actually say good-bye.  All of you that know me know that I NEVER say good-bye.  The anesthesiologist popped into the room next to visit with Kara and me.  I'm not sure why it never dawned on me until this point, probably because I've never really had an actual surgery and I clueless as to procedures, but I was going to need a breathing tube for this surgery.  Needless to say this conversation with the anesthesiologist started me on a nail biting path for the reminder of my awake time.  The anesthesiologist assured me that he would do everything in his powers to keep me as relaxed as possible.  It was at this point that I learned that nausea was going to be my biggest enemy post surgery.  I think this is common with general anesthesia plus I was having an operation on my ear.  The anesthesiologist told me that a magic pill would be given to me immediately before surgery and it should help with the nausea for up to 48 hours.  I proceeded to spill water all over myself when given this magic pill like 5 minute later.  I think I got excited that I was actually allowed to have some water.  Anyway ... off topic ... I would also be given phenergan after the operation as I needed it.  The anesthesiologist left the room and within minutes the operating room nurses came in to get me.  They quickly introduced themselves and asked some basic questions.  I passed the test and off we went on our grand adventure.  And of course things start to get a bit blurry.  I had been wearing my glasses and I am blind without them so I begged the nurse to let me keep them on as long as possible.  I managed to keep them on until about 2 minutes prior to getting knocked out.  The nurse even got scolded by a surgical tech when we entered the room with a "Why does she have glasses on?"  I was wheeled down to operating room #3.  I finally learned why hospitals have so many heated blankets too.  They keep operating rooms at like negative 32 degrees.  I will admit is was a bit unnerving to be wheeled into an operating room when you are the patient.  These people were going to be "cutting" me open in just a minute and I wouldn't be aware of a single moment of it.  I think there were a total of 7 people in my operating room.  There could have been more but I only was witness to seven people.  The nurses got me over to the operating table and then started to literally strap me down.  This is when the panic started to take over a bit.  I was doing okay until my legs and arms were strapped down.  The anesthesiologist started to talk to me about my vision, or lack of, and the anesthesiologist nurse also started to ask me several questions "Why are you here?" "Who came with you today?"  "How old are you?"  "What is today's date?".  I finally learned the reason for the questions when the anesthesiologist said, "I don't think we gave her enough versed."  I think I was suppose to be a bit more out of it.  Oh well.  It was fine.  Someone took my glasses at this point and then I saw a mask with the magic gas appear close to my face.  I knew I'd be out any minute.  I saw my anesthesiologist push some white stuff through my IV and the nurse said, "You will be asleep in like 10 seconds.  We will take good care of you." I literally was at peace (probably the drugs) and I just decided to close my eyes.  And that was all she wrote!

The surgery went just fine.  No complications.  And that was our greatest relief.  The operation was scheduled to last for one hour but it lasted for just over two hours.  Kara and I still aren't exactly sure why the surgery took longer than we anticipated but based on the feedback from the surgeon we just have a super awesome surgeon who was taking his time with the operation.  The surgeon gave us about 30 color photographs of the entire operation which is really educational  It documents the whole procedure.

This is a picture after the surgeon lifted my eardrum to get to my middle ear.

This is after the removal of the stapes bone via a laser.  It is also after an opening was made through the footplate which separates the middle ear and the inner ear.  The surgeon took some tissue from behind my ear and laid it over the newly created opening in the footplate.

This is after the prosthesis was placed over the incus bone.  The only other thing to do is lay the eardrum back down.

Those few pictures make the surgery look really easy!!

I do know that Kara was a bit nervous waiting to meet with the surgeon.  I would rather be the patient any day.  I think I would have crumbled to a million pieces had I been waiting for Kara to get out of a surgery that took much longer than anticipated.  But thankfully Kara is a much more relaxed person!

I remember very little of my time in the recovery room and in the surgical discharge area.  And I was actually in recovery a fairly long time at about 4 hours.  I was asleep through most of it.  I have never been so tired in my entire life.  Those are some serious drugs.  I was confused when I first woke-up in the recovery room.  I immediately thought It was time to get up and wake the boys up but I got a "nice" push down from a nurse and I realized that not only was I in the recovery room but I was having an annoying coughing fit.  I was also having a lot of trouble catching my breath.  I think these are all normal side effects of waking up from anesthesia.  But in the midst of the coughing fit the nurse asked me, "Did you have a cough before surgery?" I realized that I could hear the nurse talking to me.  But you all she was standing on my left side.  I have not heard someone speaking to me on my left side in a couple of years. So I got a giggle from the nurse when I answered her question with, "I can %^&&% hear you." because I was filled with so much stinking euphoria.  I could have been dying at that moment and I wouldn't have cared about it.  I could FREAKING hear.  That moment is the clearest of my entire recovery period.  The nurses managed to get my heart rate down.  It was really fast.  I think it was probably triggered from the coughing.  They gave me some oxygen and within minutes I was fast asleep.  And after that I only have snippets of the rest of the afternoon.

I remember looking at the clock at one point.  It was 1:30 pm.
I remember watching another guy get wheeled by my bed and I thought to myself, "He looks like crap."
I remember them pulling a chair up to my bed and telling me I would need to get up and walk to it.  They failed to tell me I didn't need to do it at warp speed.  I literally jumped out of bed and hightailed it to the chair.  I think I was ready for another nap.
I remember seeing Kara walk into the surgical discharge room.
I remember the nurse telling Kara I would be in this room for about 30 minutes.  I was in there for 3 hours.
I remember being SO, SO tired.
The nurse finally gave up and knew that I was a lost cause for going home anytime soon and just told me to take a nap.  Not a problem.
I was never really nauseous.  The drugs worked like magic.
I remember I was in very little pain.  The nurse kept asking me to rate my pain and I felt guilty at one point and lied and told her it was like a 3.  It was really like a 1.
I remember being thrilled that I didn't wake-up in recovery crying like a lunatic.  That happened with my wisdom teeth.
I remember being terrified that a wave of pain would swallow me at any moment.  It never did.
I remember then nurse coming in to give discharge instructions to me.  I feel asleep after seconds and the nurse realized I was a lost cause.
I remember vaguely getting up to use the restroom.  And of course it came in a moment of panic.  Kara told me later she felt horrible because the nurse had just sat down to eat her lunch when I decided I either needed to pee now or I was going to pee on the floor.
I remember Kara calling off work because we way underestimated the time I would be at the hospital and my condition when I left the hospital.
I vaguely remember getting dressed.  I'm sure Kara had fun with that one.
I remember being so grateful that a wheelchair would take me to the car.  And realizing "this is why they wheel you out of a hospital".
I got very excited when I realized the nurse would wheel me right up to the passenger door.  Nice.
I told Kara later that I could never pick out the face of my nurse in the surgical discharge area from a line-up because I was asleep most of the time.  I have zero idea what she looked like.
I slept most of the way home.  I vaguely remember getting out of the car and walking to the recliner in our living room.

The boys were playing outside with Grandma and Grandpa when I got home.  So it was a few minutes before they came in to the house.  I will never forget the fear on their faces when they saw me.  It made my heart skip a few beats.  They didn't even want to touch my hand.  I was the same person.  But they knew something was different and it was that difference that made me "not momma" to them in that moment.  It broke my heart in about a million pieces.  I never want my boys to be afraid.  We prepared the boys a lot before the operation.  They knew that I had a boo-boo in my left ear and that a doctor was going to fix it.  But there's not much else you can tell a two-year old.  And had I not been so tired I probably would have cried over it.      

That night was rough.  Kara took care of the boys and Grandma (my mom) helped get me into bed.  And let me just say that the vertigo and nausea hit hard about 7pm (so about 6 hours after surgery).  I literally crawled up to the bedroom and that was with a stop in the bathroom on the way upstairs.  I never actually threw up.  I didn't have any food in my stomach.  I think my mom had managed to get me to eat some oyster crackers.  And I was also on that ant-nausea medication.  Thank goodness.  I have never experienced vertigo but that stuff is serious.  I was literally crawling up the stairs and dry heaving into a bucket.  It was rough.  I did fine sleeping that night but it literally took me 4 hours and a couple of naps to get the ability to get to the bathroom to pee.  I am so grateful to Kara that night.  Kara has had many bouts with vertigo (unfortunately) but as a result she knew exactly how to get me through each situation.  I really would have reacted in the wrong way without her coaching me through the night.  I literally crawled to the bathroom to pee at one point.  I was a mess.  I managed to get through the night with only 1 1/2 nausea pills and only extra strength Tylenol  I was actually never in real pain.  I just had a headache from (1) being dehydrated and (2) not having caffeine for 24 hours.  I still swear that this has got to be like the least painful operation on the planet.  The only medications I am currently on are an antibiotic and prednisone.

So how are things now?  I am 3 days post the operation.  And I'm nervous.  I am out of the honeymoon period.  The miraculous recovery in my hearing ability has been diminished a great deal.  This was too be expected due to swelling and the packaging that has to remain in my ear for the next couple of weeks.  I try not to panic but it can be difficult.  I do know that I can hear better.  I'm just not sure how much better I can hear at this point.  I will take it one day at a time.  I have my post operative appointment with the surgeon on October 9th.  The packaging will be taken out of my ear at that point.  I'm not really sure when my hearing will get tested for the first time.  But we will deal with whatever comes our way.  I just ask for continued prayers to be sent in our direction.  I'm trying to remain optimistic. I'd really like to be back in the hearing world again.

Mary

soccer

The boys have been participating in indoor soccer the past few weeks.  I enrolled them in the class under the assumption it did not require parents to participate in class.  But I found out the first week of class I was wrong with that assumption.  So the class has been a bit of a challenge because on most weekends it is one parent (me) and two kids.  I have been grateful that the grandparents have stepped up to assist.  We were going to try to do soccer all year but it looks like it is going to just be this 8 week session because it is too much of a challenge to find another adult to help out.  Anyhow the boys seem to be having a blast.  It is only a 30 minute class (long enough).  It typically involves about 8 - 10 other kids and the class format is such that the entire time is not spent with a soccer ball.  I think that's great.  Grandma and Grandpa came to class over the weekend and took a few pictures.  The boys were not as into this class as it was abnormally crowded.  The coach said a lot of kids were making up missed classes.  

Alex is all ready to go!

It's warm-up time.  The boys are doing "toe towers" in this picture.  It is a favorite.  We have even caught them practicing at home!

The coach always has the kids line up on the wall to get instructions.  I think my favorite part are the t-shirts that are way too BIG!

Alex always listens intently to the instructions and then proceeds to follow them without missing a beat.  Jakob on the other hand will listen to the first part of the instructions and then yell "Okay.  Okay.  Okay" over and over again until it is time to start the drill.  He gets so excited.

Here is Alex during their "running" drill.  Alex always brings up the rear.  He has only one speed.  Slow.

The class always ends with a game of Sharks and Minnows.  The kids have to kick their soccer ball at a parent.  If the parent gets hit, they must drop to the ground and let the kids jump over them.  And then the kids get a shot too.  The boys don't quite get the game but they LOVE to drop to the ground and have us jump over them.

I'm glad they boys have gotten a chance to participate in soccer.  They are doing so with so much enthusiasm.  I love when we walk into soccer each week and Jakob just screams out of pure excitement.  So fun.

Mary

school

My view when I came down the stairs on the 1st day of school.  Sigh.

The boys started school this week.  They will be going to school Monday – Thursday from 8:30am – 11:30am.  It was really hard to get them excited about school because they could grasp very little about the concept.  We bought the book “The Night Before Preschool” and we read it before bed about a bazillion times.  We also visited the school on several occasions because some of our appointments happened to take place at the same location.  We also got a visit at our house from their teachers, Miss. Stacey and Miss.  Ashley, about a week before the boys went to school.  But even with all that the idea of school was completely foreign to them.  And it didn’t help that the boys had been sick leading up to the start of school.  So I guess it should have come as no surprise that the first day of school was a bit bumpy.

"I walk school Momma." (too bad we live about 3 miles away)

Alex did not sleep all that great the night before school and either did Mommy and Momma.  Alex is very clingy when he does not feel good.  Both boys had a minor cold but it was enough to make sleep difficult for Alex.  So the last few nights have resulted in a lot of cuddles during the night.  I spent the majority of one night laying beside Alex’s crib.  He would only sleep if I was next to him.  My little boy has super sonic ears and as a result any time I tried to sneak out of the room he would start to scream and cry.  So I embraced the challenge and spent a long night with my little boy.  I was afraid we were going to fall in a bad pattern because he repeated this pattern, thought in smaller spurts, for several nights in a row.  But now that he is feeling better he seems to be just fine being alone at night.  Yay!  So anyhow the first day of school we awoke with some cranky children.  And while our boys easily get up early every morning they only function at a slow speed.  We essentially have 60 minutes to change diapers, get dressed, brush hair, brush teeth, eat breakfast, drink milk and put on shoes.  Simple!  What takes an adult a total of 10 minutes can take a toddler 3 hours.  So by the time we got the boys in their car seats they were screaming bloody murder.  And then it happened … the car would not start!!  NOOOO!!

My big boys!!

I had changed the boys in the trunk of the car the day before and one of the little stinkers must have turned on the light in the trunk.  Our car battery was dead.  This would not have been a major problem had car seats not been involved in the situation.  But while we have two cars only one of the cars has car seats (those buggers are too expensive to own 4 of them).  So we all pile out of the car and Kara starts to put the car seats in the other car.  The boys think this is the best thing EVER!  And of course they are now running around all excited about the trip we are going to take in the special car.  And then during the chaos Jakob managed to get hold of the garage door opener.  He proceeds to hit the button to close the garage door.  This is not a big problem except for the fact that the CRV was parked in the garage with the trunk open.  There is a metal piece on the garage door that will scrap up the entire back of the car trunk if the trunk of the car is open while the garage door is put down.  Needless to say I immediately screamed “God Da*#! Jakob Daniel!” all while diving to get the opener out of his hands.  I was too late.  Sigh.  Okay.  No big deal.  This is why we don't have nice things.  We finally get the kids in the car and we are off to school.  And by the hair of our chin we manage to only arrive about 15 minutes late.

"Me get snacks Momma."

The boys were clingy as we walked into the school.  It was busy.  And of course the surroundings were fairly new to them.  The class is comprised of 8 students and 2 teachers.  All the kids in the class were born in either May 2012 or June 2012 so everyone is really close in age.  There are 2 girls and 6 boys in the class.  The developmental delay of each of the kids is all across the board.  It appears as if it is going to be a perfect mix of children.  The teachers have already indicated that the kids get along great.  So as soon as we walked in the room we noticed most of the kids were clinging to their parents.  But our little Jakob had some other plans.  Jakob immediately got down from Kara’s arms and screamed “TOYS!” while running around like a crazy man.  And much to my surprise Alex scooted out of my arms and followed his brother.  They could have cared less that we were about to leave them for the day.  We suddenly looked at each other with the thought, “How bad will it look if we are the first parents to leave the room?”  The good news is the enthusiasm of the boys seemed to rub off on the other kids and soon others were joining in on the fun.  Kara and I went over to the boys and gave them kisses and hugs and then we hightailed tip-toed out of the room.  They never even batted an eye.

I will admit that while Kara and I had to tend to getting the car battery fixed we were both still very lost when we left that school.  We seriously had zero idea what to do with ourselves.  It was the most bizarre feeling in the world.  And after about only 30 minutes we were really missing the little buggers.  Plus we were excited to get back and hear all about their first day.  So after what only seemed like minutes we were back at the school for pick-up time.  And our hearts melted as we turned the corner and saw the boys walking out of the classroom with their backpacks on.  Their little faces just lit up when they saw Momma and Mommy.  It was great.

 It's time to go home.

The boys have now been in school a week and already seem to be progressing in their development.  It has blown us away.  This is especially apparent in Mr. Alex.  This week has brought much more babble from our quiet man.  We now hear him all the time “talking to himself” and it is AMAZING.  We take Alex to speech tomorrow and I am really excited to get some feedback from his speech therapist.  We love the school and we feel so extremely blessed that the boys are able to be part of such a wonderful program at no cost to us.  They are being exposed to so much diversity all the while receiving such wonderful intervention services.  Our hearts are full.

Mary