Brave Rebekah

Rebekah had surgery today. She got tubes put into both ears. She had her first and only ear infection about 4 months ago, but her little ears were never able to drain the fluid that the infection caused. The fluid then began to slightly impair her hearing, so the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) Specialist recommended a surgery to remove the fluid and insert tubes into two small incisions in her ears. She will have the tubes for 18 mo to 2 years or so. Maybe more. During this time, no water is allowed in her ears. Soooo, bath time and swimming time will be complicated slightly as she will always have to have waterproof ear plugs in to prevent any water getting in.

How did the surgery go? Well, to those of you who have experienced "bigger" surgeries on your children, you probably think this isn't too big of a deal. The surgery itself really wasn't, but it was still really hard for me to see her in such an intimidating and scary environment.

We went in really early this morning and because she was going to be put under, she couldn't eat or drink. Poor baby. She was so BRAVE and HAPPY though, and wowed the nurses with her smiles and giggles. I could hardly believe it. After a lot of talking and prepping, they had me get in scrubs and wash up and I took her into this huge operating room (my first time ever in one) and had me sit in a chair and hold her in my arms holding her arms tightly against her tummy so she wouldn't grab anything. They placed a little child size gas mask on her and she was so meek about it all. She tensed up and whimpered and cried just a little, then her breathing changed and her body changed and then she suddenly went limp. That whole scene was the hard part for me. I cried. I knew she was afraid. I could tell by her body and her sounds. There is just nothing harder to handle than seeing your child feeling afraid or in pain.

Thankfully, Dr. Kacmarynski (who is amazing) was so sweet and said that she would cry too if it were hers. I then assisted in laying Rebekah on the operating table and left while they did their thing. As I left, I said, "I'm sorry I'm crying, I know it isn't that big of a deal." To which the doc replied, "It is too a big deal. She is your baby." I LOVE good and understanding doctors. Everyone was so great there. I will miss this hospital when we move.

About 45 minutes later, they brought her to me in her recovery room and she was very disoriented and crying for a long time. I finally got her to calm down and drink some juice just before we left about 30 minutes after they brought her to me. Dr. K said that she was very glad that they did the surgery because Rebekah's ears looked pretty bad had even more pussy fluid in them than they had thought. I am grateful for modern medicine.

When we got home, she scarfed down some cereal and was laughing happily at her sweet brother Alex who was doing everything within his power to make her happy. She still has some pain, but it doesn't seem very bad. I am so proud of my sweet girl.

Here she is after getting changed for the surgery. She was dancing on this chair with an empty tummy and an interrupted night of sleep. Love her!Here we are just before we went into the operating room.

This is right when we got home. Before she ate, she just laid on the floor and sucked her thumb with a sigh of relief. She was tired.

I love you my little Rebekah. You are so brave.