Under The Knife

What a week. I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am. 

I left for Virginia with my parents early Thursday morning of last week. Arrived back in Colorado early Sunday morning, and took Micah to surgery early Tuesday morning.

He was scheduled to have his adenoids and tonsils removed.

He's such an amazing boy (I know he's mine…but it is the truth).

When we told him we were going to the Dr, he was excited, not nervous or anxious.

After all he's been through he wasn't scared.

This is him before the surgery.

Have you ever had to watch your children go under anesthesia?
It's torture for a parent. To watch them slowly become less lucid and then to see their eyes roll back into their head and know they are out.
I had to watch Josiah do this when he was 2 and had to have a hernia surgery, and again yesterday with Micah.
I can't help but cry. I tried to hold it together, it's just terrifying to see that.

We waited only 20 minutes and they were done. It was truly amazing.
He did great. They removed his very large tonsils and he medium sized adenoids with the hopes of improving his respiratory problems.
We waited a couple of more minutes and then were allowed to go back and see him.
He was eating a popsicle slushy, was very groggy, and asked to do it himself.
The entire time we were there he didn't cry, complain, or whine.
This picture is about 20 minutes after surgery and we tried to get him to sleep. Doesn't Buzz look so comfy to cuddle with?

Then here he was before we left, less than 5 hours after arriving for surgery.

Yep, that's a cheesy grin.

We couldn't believe he wasn't in more pain!

On the way home he threw up in the car due to the anesthesia (and I had a minor panic attack).
But once we were home, you would have never thought he had JUST had surgery.
He was eating anything he could get his hands onto, and even attempted to eat buttered noodles for dinner (but he gave up and opted for yogurt).

I can't believe him.
I am hoping the recovery is this easy. I wasn't expecting it at all. I thought he'd want to cuddle on the couch for 3 days and I'd have to force juice down his throat.
But no, this morning he asked for a cinnamon roll (I soaked it in milk first) and a pop tart (that was a bit more questionable in my eyes).
He's chasing Ella around and hasn't sat still yet.
God is amazing.
The spirit he has given Micah is full of power and strength. He will be a mighty warrior one day.

Micah's verse is proving to be true every day.

2 Timothy 1:7

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline."

Back Again

 It started again on Wednesday.
Ella got a cough and I just knew we were in for it.

We have a history of struggling with colds.

Every time Micah gets a runny nose I have to give him his inhaler. At this point he had not been technically diagnosed as asthmatic; we fixed that this weekend.
On Thursday he got the runny nose and by that afternoon I had to give him his nebulizer.
This was the first time I had to give him this. 3 times I tried with no improvement.

I was praying and praying and praying that we wouldn't have to stay another night. But as soon as we got there he was put onto oxygen. Not a good sign. Then we were admitted for the night. 

This ended up being our most difficult stay yet. 

He was exhausted and manifesting it by fighting every treatment. 

I'll tell you one thing about Micah; he is strong. Really strong. It took 3 of us to pin him down to take his treatments. If you've ever had to hold your child down you know what kind of torture that is for a mother. I'm supposed to protect and comfort him, and instead I'm holding his arms and head still. 

It was miserable.

He was then officially diagnosed as having asthma and given more steroids and a daily inhaler.

We were released 24 hours into our stay and I have never been happier to be home.

Then…

Just 18 hours later I was on my way back to Children's Hospital with Josiah. 

He seemed to be struggling to breath. I didn't know if I was being paranoid, but something didn't seem right. 

His oxygen was ok when we got in (93), but he was retracting (he was pulling from his abdomen when he took breaths) and his respiratory rate was right around 44 (normal is around 22).

So they began treating it like an asthma attack.
Seriously, Lord? I was just here. With a different child. Why? 
I was fried. My nerves were gone. I had nothing left to give.
When the Dr came in and said we would probably be admitted to for the night I cried. How awful is that? I cried in front of Josiah, who was being so strong. I just couldn't bear the thought that this was happening all over again.

It started to look better. Like we wouldn't have to stay the night.
Then it got worse. Much worse.
He spiked a temperature. And began to look really miserable.
He didn't complain once. Not once. He's amazing.
But he was having an allergic reaction to the medicine that made him turn red. BRIGHT RED.

They took him off of the continuous medicine and he improved drastically.
He was diagnosed as having an asthma attack due to an atypical pneumonia.
They gave him an antibiotic and tylanol and he was feeling like himself again.
They ended up letting us leave right around 1:30 AM.

But it's so strange to have two kids on the same medication for two separate visits to the hospital.
It has truly been one of the hardest weekends of our lives.
I am happy to be home; but I'm still struggling to recover.

Sometimes it's really hard to see the Lord's plan in certain situations. I know he is in control. But I won't lie…I'm a bit perturbed and tired.
But God is good. All the time.

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.