Turned A Corner?

We're just starting day 8, and I am hoping we've turned the corner since T&A surgery. Sheena had me very worried yesterday afternoon after not eating or drinking all day, and barely the previous 2 days. Other than being pale and cranky she didn't show significant signs of dehydration, but I didn't like the path she was on. I wonder if her low muscle tone means she doesn't need as much fluids as most kids without getting dehydrated. A teddy bear picnic in the backyard did the trick late in the afternoon, as well as chocolate milk which she's never taken to before. Yesterday was all about experimenting on the fluids front, so it was very satisfying when she finally agreed to have a drink. She had half a slice of bread at the picnic (chose the peanut butter over avacado), and lots of milk. Sigh of relief from mum. She's lost over 1/2 a kilo since the surgery, and is looking so slim.

She's been better since, and only needed one dose of panadol to get her through the night. Much better than 4 hourly like for the past few nights.

A painful weekend.

We were warned that day 4 and 5 can be very very sore after the T&A surgery. Sheena had frequent periods of severe pain over the weekend. Pain-stop didn't hold her for 4 hours all the time, and she woke up overnight every four hours screaming in pain, but still really sleepy with her eyes shut while we gave her pain relief.

Poor little girl.

She couldn't eat all day Saturday, but she snacked on Sunday. All the time she could tolerate milk which is very good, and she wanted it a lot as she was hungry from lack of food. She managed breakfast this morning thank-goodness. We can tell her body is weak, understandably. She is so heavy to hold as she doesn't put any muscle power into it, sensibly conserving energy where she can. Of course she wants to be held more often, and my shoulders are really tight from all the lifting.

Here is Sheena playing with one of her birthday presents. Its a bath time favourite. Great for her fine-motor skills, and learning to pour water accurately. She loves having Roy in the bath.

Sheena minus tonsils and adenoids

Sheena had her ENT surgery yesterday. The procedure was tough on Sheena-Poppy, and she was in recovery for over 2 hours while other children were through recovery within 20 minutes. That was by far her most troubling time. Her oxygen sats were in the low 90s, so she needed extra oxygen to keep it there. She needed two lots of morphine, as she was screaming in pain. She eventually settled, but was clinging to me like a koala bear, and it took us over 4 hours before we could convince her to have a lie down on her own bed once we were on the ward. Here she is on the ward looking pale and red around the eyes. The morphine made her eyes and nose all itchy, not to mention all the crying.

We thought fluid intake would be impossible, but when she eventually agreed to have something about 4 hours after surgery, she guzzled over 500mls of milk without bringing it back up, then had a muslei bar for dinner. Her night was ok considering. A few wake ups and some pain relief at 4am, but that was expected. At 10.20pm when I was reading in the seat next to her in bed, she sat right up, but remained completely asleep. She sat there for 5 minutes, in a deep sleep. I was just watching but wanted to know what would come of it. Her oxygen sats then dipped to 88, and she woke up crying, but easily resettled. I suspect it was a sleep apnea episode - it was very spooky almost to watch her sleeping like that. Otherwise he breathing overnight was very quiet (not to mention the mum of the baby in the bed opposite).

Today she is slowly recovering with good pain relief every four hours. She'll have a quiet week ahead, and will hopefully be better than ever.