On November 9th Emma had surgery. After eight ear infections (YES-8!) in 20 months we made the unanimous decision to have tubes put into both of Emma's ears. Emma was such a GOOD GIRL, I think that only our daughter would actually ENJOY being at the hospital! (For the most part anyway...). Emma was friendly with all of the nurses who helped check us in and she loved having her own room to wait in before surgery. It was a very nice room with a play station and anything that a child could want. (No, I did not let Greg play video games)! ; ) Emma happily sat in bed and watched a couple of cartoons. About 1/2 hour before we had to go downstairs for surgery the nurse brought in a little drink to help Emma relax, it was suppose to take effect in 5 minutes-however it took about 25 minutes! Just in time for another nurse to arrive with Emma's gurney. I told Emma that she was going to take a "ride" and that was ALL that Emma had to hear, she very willingly climbed on with Daddy's help. :) The picture posted was taken in the Post Op Room-as you can see Emma was feeling a bit loopy by that time. I have to say that ALL of the nurses and the anesthesiologist LOVED Emma! They were gushing over her pajamas and her doll ("Baby") that she brought with her. They were arguing over who was going to carry Emma into the OR, although as it turned out Emma preferred to ride on the gurney instead of being carried. We were told that Emma was quite the hit in the OR as well...she tends to leave an impression where ever she goes! : ) Emma surgery took 5 minutes and she was only out of our sight for 1/2 hour. Her surgeon, Dr. Bulger explained that he removed quite a bit of fluid out of both her ears before putting in the tubes. All went well and we were relived Dr. Bulger guided both of us into the recovery room. Unfortunately Emma had woken up before we were able to get there and she was very upset. We were able to calm her down after a little while and after the nurse checked her vital signs & etc, then we took another "ride" back up to Emma's room. Emma enjoyed riding in the wheelchair with Mommy almost as much as the gurney & she was mad when we arrived at her room and we had to get up! : ) Emma was SO HAPPY to eat snacks out of her diaper bag & drink, of course she had not had anything to eat or drink since about 9 PM the night before! We stayed at the hospital about another hour before Emma was discharged.
By that evening Greg and I noticed that Emma was talking more and pronouncing words much more clearly than before! I later learned at her post op appointment the following week that the fluid in Emma's ears was muffling everything that she was hearing. If you put your fingers over both of your ears and speak-that is exactly how everything had sounded to Emma BEFORE surgery! :( Emma is doing VERY WELL now and as my friend Sarah said: "Emma has New Ears"!!!
