It was all quite minor (although you wouldn't think so from the medical bills that resulted). I think we were at the surgical center for all of about 3 hours. We had to wait about 2 hours during which we got checked in and paid, got checked out by the nurses, vitited with the doctor and anesthesiologist, had about a dozen people ask us the same questions over and over, were shown to a room to wait, and Noah put on a cute little baby size hospital gown. We hung out in our surgery waiting room for probably 45 min or an hour before they came to get him for his surgery. He tolerated this amazingly well considering he'd hadn't been able to eat that morning (can't have food in the tummy for general anesthesia) and we wouldn't let him crawl around on the floor (hospital floors are just plain gross and there's no way I was going to let him down on that floor!).
Waiting for surgery in his cute orange baby size hospital gown
Finally it was his turn. The nurse came to get him and of course he cried initially when she took him from us. Later, she said he stopped crying as soon as we were out of sight and was happy and calm until they put the mask on his face to give him the gas for anesthesia. I knew he would freak at this but luckily after a few quick breaths it puts you to sleep so he didn't have to be upset for long. The procedure litterally took less than 10 minutes and he was away from us for no more than 20 minutes.
He was so funny when they brought him back--all groggy and drunk acting. He seemed so disoriented and out of it. Poor boy. Luckily I was able nurse him right away while he slowly woke back up which helped keep him calm. Before we knew it we were all done and headed back home! Noah was still a little groggy and grumpy the rest of the morning, but by the time he got up from his nap later that afternoon he was back to himself again!
His ears have healed up fine and we can now get them wet again (we were having to put cotton balls in every night for bath time). And during the summer he can swim with no problems as long as he's in clean/chlorinated water (otherwise he just need ear plugs).
Actually, this last week he's had a bit of a cold which would have turned into a full blown ear infection before. He apparently already had some fluid start to build up but this time instead of sitting behind his ear drum and causing him lots of pain it just drained out of his ears. It looks gross, but it's not bothering him at all. We just use ear drops and go on about life. No visit to the doctor. No strong oral antibiotics that cause diarrhea and diaper rash. While we hope that the tubes keep him from getting infections at all, at least they can get the fluid out if it does start so that's better than nothing. So all in all, hooray for ear tubes!
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