from the drafts: Surgery

I'm SO behind on updating around here. I miss sharing what our family is up to in more than the snippets instagram posts provide. The busier we've been, the more I wanted to update, and the more back logged this place was and thus goes the vicious circle. I'm finally sitting down to break the silence, amidst the busyness, I'm taking a moment to update. First I'm publishing this post that has been sitting in my drafts all summer. I have photos buried deep somewhere but if I go digging for them this will never get published, so here's the details without all the cuteness to offset...

____Originally written Jun 17th, 2015______

Yesterday Malakai had his much anticipated ear tube procedure. My sister stayed the night so she could be here that morning to stay with Desmond and Aurelia while Ben and I took Kai in. Check in was supposed to be an hour before the procedure but it turned into 2 hours. Thankfully Malakai was in great spirits and we got through the waiting period pretty easily. He had talked previously about being excited to wear the mask and go to sleep, so we went with that and pumped it up to sound amazing. Once we got to that point the anesthesiologist put the mask on pretty abruptly and Malakai's eyes got big with shock. I am so glad I was there to soothe him and that he was able to calmly go under. 

After he was asleep I walked back to Ben who was waiting in pre-Op, took off the hospital gown, we walked to the waiting room where I sent a few texts to relatives that he was in surgery. I ran to the restroom, came back and started to chat with Ben when the surgeon came out to tell us he was finished. The procedure literally took him 5 minutes. Another 10 minutes and we were called back to see Malakai. The nurse said he quietly opened his eyes and just said a quiet yes when asked if he wanted his parents. He was a little dizzy and pretty hungry, but came out of the anesthesia so smoothly that all we had to wait for to go home was him finishing his popsicles that they promised him. 

Honestly the hardest part of the whole thing was afterward when he had to slowly ease into consuming clear fluids before he could have solid food. He hadn't eaten since dinner the night before so he was very hungry. I'm so glad he had an appetite, but it's not fun to tell your hungry kiddo he can't eat (over and over again). We watched a couple movies to distract him from his hunger and relax a while. 

Mima came to visit and brought jello and painting books. The jello was great because it sort of tricked him into thinking he was eating, but technically it was still "clear fluids". The painting gave him and Des something quiet to do besides watching tv. Then Grandma and Grandpa came by with smoothies and by then we eased him into eating with some crackers. They also brought Legos, which provided more quiet activity for a while. Second to not letting him eat, getting Malakai to rest was quite challenging. He wanted to bounce around on the couch and just get up and play. I recall the same thing when he had his first surgery 3 years ago. 

Thankfully he slept really well all night and woke feeling pretty good. We even went to my Bible study this morning and he played just like normal with the other kids. I'm hopeful that the tubes will be what he needs to keep him from having ear infection and after ear infection.


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Update: As of today, September 8th, 2015, Malakai had a happy and healthy summer with no complications! We are so thankful and hopeful for a fall and winter without ear infection drama for him.