Double Surgeries for Matt

Finally getting around to posting about this…

Matt, like our other ‘even numbered children’ – Katie and Megan – had some sleep apnea issues and therefore needed their tonsils and adenoids out. Matthew’s case didn’t seem quite as bad as Katie’s or Megan’s but we did notice some similarities, especially when he slept in the car and stopped breathing… nearly giving Katie a heart attack. We took him into the Ear, Nose and Throat clinic at Evans Community Hospital and had him checked out. They advised a sleep study be done on him to determine the need for surgery. He and Dad spent the night at a Sleep Study Clinic close by and Matt was a trooper and went right to sleep even though he was hooked up to multiple wires and nodes. Sure enough, it showed that he had sleep apnea bad enough that they recommended his tonsils and adenoids be removed.

Part two of Matthew’s double surgery was an elective surgery on his cute little ears. A good friend of ours, an ENT, told us years ago that Matthew’s ears were missing the natural fold or crease that most people have and that it is a simple procedure to recreate the folds and ‘pin’ his ears back a little. It has always been the plan to have this done before he started school and so with two Ear Nose and Throat surgeries we decided to have them done together. Another good friend, Dr. Wilhelm did the surgeries and did a great job.

I’m glad we did them together and that they were both successful but the recovery wasn’t the easiest for this little guy. Poor thing. He was an angel going into surgery on the morning of May 15th. Very calm, very happy. The nurse anesthetist actually gave him some medication to make him more relaxed and I think it worked even more than they wanted it to. He started acting a little silly and uninhibited. It was kind of funny.

Seeing him come out of surgery was a little heartbreaking. He was in some serious pain and didn’t quite know how to handle it. We fed him popsicles and comforted him while we watched his oxygen saturations return to normal.

We followed him up to his room where he stayed overnight with Dad. Chris’ surgery on his foot had just been a week prior so he had a cast and crutches and felt like he could at least be helpful by hanging out with Matt. He looks all smiles in these pictures but he was pretty miserable. Every time I put up my phone for a picture he just forced a smile. He’s been trained well. Nikole, Ashlyn and Lindsey sent balloons which made him happy. He slept and watched Disney Channel shows on and off for the 24 hours of Hospital Stay. Eating was difficult and keeping the medicine going to stay on top of the pain was tricky too.

The next morning Luke and I came back to check them out and take them back home. More forced smiles. Luke was so excited to see him and was cute to try and comfort him and get him whatever he wanted.

For the next four weeks Matt wore a head band 24 hours a day. In the first picture below Matt crying because I wouldn’t let him play outside. His ears were really tender and couldn’t be even lightly touched or else he was in tears. Mismatched jammies all week since he had to only wear his button up pjs on top. And flip flops of course. He loves his flip flops. I just loved this picture he drew of Luke because of the ‘lines’ in his ears. He understood that his ears didn’t have ‘lines’ and that’s why he had to have surgery. I just love that Luke’s ears do have lines. Cute cute!

Matt loves to play with the Pez dispensers. This time the Super Heros are having a little meeting – probably about how to avoid taking medicine. Matt was on Ibuprofen and Tylenol alternating throughout the day and night. He woke up several times a night crying in pain just as each dose was wearing off. It was really a hard several weeks. Eating was really hard. Little Einstein's TV shows saved us multiple times a day. Poor guy.