We tried everything to help her: medications, essential oils (they helped the most), homeopathic medicine, humidifiers, vitamins, diffusers, and anything else doctors recommended. Everything had such a tiny effect and overall she was getting worse, so we finally opted for our last choice--surgery.
First, we had to get her tested for the two genetic disorders I have: Factor V Leiden and MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase). She came back negative for MTHFR, which is the scarier one. However, she is heterozygous for Factor V Leiden. She will be predisposed to clotting, have trouble getting pregnant, maintaing a pregnancy, and have other pregnancy complications. It is unfortunate that she got it, but I know enough about it to help her. It also does not negatively affect a tonsillectomy, unlike other surgeries.
On August 8th, Mireya had her tonsils and adenoids removed. The surgeon said that they were both gigantic and blocking more than 90 percent of her airway! I had no idea they were as bad as that. The surgery went well, and the only complication was getting the I.V. in. They blew a bunch of veins in both hands trying to get it in. I think they had some moron doing the I.V., because she was hydrated and her veins are no smaller than an average 3 year old.
During recovery they said she cried for her Mommy. When they brought her to me, she cried and cried, saying, "It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" She was in a significant amount of pain. I immediately asked for some kind of a painkiller, like a shot. There was a big mix-up with the nurse and what the anesthesiologist ordered for pain management. The anesthesiologist ordered a shot of Demerol, but the nurse was an airhead and tried to give her Morphine. After 15-20 minutes they finally gave her the Demerol. She relaxed pretty quickly and slept. Hallelujah!
They did not want us to go home until Mireya started to drink fluids, but she kept refusing. We finally got her to, but then she told us she did not want to go home! It was a fight to get her into her pajamas and ready to go, but finally we got her home.
That first day was not too bad pain wise. It is nearly impossible to get a stubborn three year old to take medication though, especially the foul tasting Lortab. She did have nausea, and she vomited up her anti-nausea medication. We called the doctor and got sublingual Zofran, which completely turned things around; she felt much better. The second day was probably the best day. She was in pain both days, but the Lortab was really helping. She was moody and cranky, but it is understandable.
Day three was rough. She got nauseous and vomited in the morning. She was refusing to take any other medications by afternoon, so she was crying hysterically in pain. She said, "What is happening to me?" It was really sad to see her in that much pain, but also extremely aggravating, because we could not get her to do what she needed to make the pain stop. We called the doctor, and he prescribed Tylenol suppositories. The first two doses we had to hold her down, which was really sad. She would not take any other pain medications though, and the alternative was going to the E.R. The suppositories helped a lot. She stopped taking her Amoxicillin completely.
Day four she vomited early in the morning before we could get her to take the Zofran. Once she took it out of fear of vomiting again, she was fine. By then she had decided she preferred the suppositories, because they did not hurt her throat. She cooperated with administering them, which was nice. She ate a ton of food and drank really well in the evening. Prior to that she would ask for food, and then hold it forever. She never ate it, but would scream hysterically if you tried to take it away. She even fell asleep holding her yogurt once.
Today started out rough in the morning as usual. She was in terrible pain, but was refusing her pain medications. She said, "I'm having the worst time!" Poor thing. We finally got her to take her medications, and she has been doing well since. She even got to play with a little boy for a while when his mom came to get one of our fish that we sold her. She really enjoyed that!
She has stayed hydrated the entire time, which is the most dangerous complication next to bleeding. She has not had bleeding either, except a little with the vomiting. So far she is doing about as I expected. I hope she heals quickly and can enjoy not having tonsils and adenoids blocking her airway anymore!
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