Adenoids - Who Needs Them Anyways?

Teddy continued to have several ear infections throughout the past years, including one this winter where the pediatrician asked if an ENT ever evaluated his adenoids. The pediatrician said that adenoids could contribute to ear infections, constant runny nose and slight snoring ... all of which Teddy has. As soon as he said it, I vaguely remembered way back to when Teddy had the dermoid cyst removed from his nose that his ENT said something about his adenoids. I ignored it at the time since it wasn't the priority when he had a cyst that went from the tip of his nose to the lining of his brain.

But, now that those dermoid cyst surgeries were way behind us, it seemed worthwhile to explore removing his adenoids. Our logic is that whatever isn't necessary to Teddy that could contribute to illness in him should be removed. Given his high pain threshold and lack of communication skills, it's often challenging at best (impossible at worst) to know what, if anything, is medically wrong with him. 

His ENT wanted to try a long course of antibiotics first, to see if that resolved things, before considering surgery. Six weeks later, we were back again, still with a runny nose. So, she scheduled us for surgery. She would only take his adenoids. She didn't want to remove his tonsils because they weren't enlarged at all. Since she wouldn't even take his tonsils, we didn't ask her about his appendix or gall bladder. (Hey, we're serious about removing those non-essential, potentially troublesome, extra body parts.)

Surgery was April 17 at 2:30 p.m. Yep, that meant no solid food all day. That part actually went much better than we expected. We went sledding, did haircuts and showers and then headed to Milwaukee. We arrived with enough time to hang out at the mall for a bit riding escalators, which are the coolest thing ever, in Teddy's mind.

Post-op misery, but at least he got a blue gown this time.

Doctors and medical procedures are the worst things ever, in Teddy's mind, at least since his NIH visit. That meant lots of tears, screaming and escape attempts during the pre-op until the sedative finally kicked in. The surgery went perfectly fine, easy and quick. Post-op was tough, as to be expected with the anesthesia, pain and fear of medical places. We managed a few smiles before we were discharged, along with 4 popsicles. Most of those smiles were directed at my aunt, who is absolutely fantastic with Teddy and an incredible resource to our family as she lives in Milwaukee.

He laced that shoe all by himself on the drive home ... knots and all.

The drive home was better than expected with Teddy devouring food and a milkshake by the time we got to Fond du Lac. We picked up AJ from our friend's house, grateful for all the support to make life happen for our family.

It does indeed take a village, and we have an awesome village!