That was the sound Nathan made every night, all night long, as he slept. His bed is by a wall so he was constantly hitting it as he thrashed around in his sleep.
He has always been a restless sleeper although he slept through the night fine. He would be a zombie in the morning regardless of how much sleep he got because it wasn't quality sleep.
He also suffered from sleep apnea. Walking down the hallway at night I would hear him stop breathing and then a few seconds later gasp for air.
I know someone who has a son around Nathan's age and a few months ago he was discussing his son's behavior issues and sleep patterns. He said they were evaluating him for a possible tonsillectomy to help his sleep apnea. I had a light bulb moment and thought maybe this is something that would help Nathan!
So a few weeks ago, while he was yawning, I asked him when he is the most tired: morning, during the day, or at night. He looked at me with sleepy eyes and said "I'm always tired mommy."
I began researching tonsillectomies. Marcus and I both had the surgery when we were young (mine was due to repeated tonsillitis) and I was surprised to read that the number one reason tonsillectomies are preformed in children these days is to relieve sleep apnea.
Nathan's tonsils were HUGE. I mean, we would look down his throat and wonder how food or air got through there. He is a small boy yet his tonsils took up most of his throat and were almost touching.
I consulted his pediatrician, the child therapist, and the ENT. Marcus and I both felt like this would greatly benefit Nathan and so we scheduled the surgery.
The week leading up to the tonsillectomy I had several conversations with Nathan about the operation and how he would feel afterwards. I didn't want him to be shocked about how he would feel but I also didn't want to scare him. We made a special trip to the store for jello, juice (a rare treat in our house) and other soft foods for after the surgery.
The night before we went out to dinner at Cracker Barrel as a family. I told Nathan he could pick a "brave boy" toy. He chose a toy airplane and was so happy about it.
I thought on the day of the surgery the hardest part would be denying him food and water the whole morning. He actually did surprisingly well with this since he usually wakes up pretty hungry.
When we got to the surgery center we changed him into the standard hospital gown and hair net. He said "I look like a lunch lady! That's silly!"
Definitely the cutest lunch lady ever!!
Here he is coloring and waiting to be wheeled back to surgery.
After they took him back we waited for about 30 minutes until they said the doctor was ready to talk to us.
I knew in my heart this was the best thing for Nathan but I never was 100% on board (I'd say I was 80% ready to do this and 20% ehhh is this something he really needs now? Especially since I vividly remember the pain involved with my tonsillectomy) But when it comes to any procedure that involves putting your child through some pain I doubt any parent is like woohoo! Let's do this! Yeah! After talking to the ENT post-op I definitely knew we made the right choice.
The doctor said he knew that Nathan's tonsils were big but once he got "in there" he saw just how large and obstructive they were and that this will definitely be beneficial for him.
While discussing post-op care for Nathan and thinking of questions to ask I could hear Nathan crying down the hall. My heart stopped each time I heard him and I would get tears in my eyes. I knew what the doctor was saying was important but a part of me wanted to run from that room and scoop my baby up immediately.
They soon led us back to Nathan who was crying, holding his favorite stuffed animal, and sputtering a melting red popsicle everywhere. I leaned down to whisper things to comfort him and he kept saying "get it off" meaning the IV.
He said "I hate this place" and "But I didn't even WANT my tonsils out!" We kept assuring him that he will feel better soon.
After some more post-op instructions we got the okay to leave. We headed to pick up his prescriptions and Nathan quickly fell asleep in the car.
He napped for a few hours and then was up watching a movie and asking for food. We kept him on liquids or popsicles that first day and then he had a week of soft foods.
He was a little out of it but his personality was already shining through and I thought that maybe this will be an easy recovery.
*2 weeks later*
We are SO glad we did this for Nathan. He is finally getting quality sleep. He no longer thrashes around at night and isn't yawning all day.
He wakes up chipper on most days and isn't a zombie for an hour. He gets dressed in the morning easier and overall his behavior has improved.
Although surgery isn't something anyone should run into we are grateful we live in a day and age where Nathan can get quality care and have access to great doctors. His recovery was much easier than I anticipated most likely because of the modern technology they have to perform these surgeries.
I asked him the other day if he is still tired all of the time. He said "Nope! I feel good!"
Now that's music to my ears.
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