"This isn't rocket science, it's brain surgery!"
Tory’s day started at 5:45 yesterday morning. Usually I wake him/he wakes me closer to 8am, but we needed to get him out of the house early for his surgery. This would have been overwhelmingly early for him, but we were one morning removed from turning the clocks back from Daylight Savings Time, so it was like we were waking him at 6:45, which is the time I occasionally break into his room anyway to coax him back to sleep with a pacifier for another hour.
Tory was scheduled for surgery at 7:30, but the hospital wanted him there at 6am. They had a list of things they needed from him before his surgery, such as hemoglobin levels, weight, and an hour’s worth of screaming in the waiting room. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to this early wake time without even a meal as consolation. I assumed he’d cry from hunger and confusion most of the time. So I wished Ellie good luck and sent them out the door. It turns out he did cry a lot, but he also settled down and acted cute for much of the wait, eventually even falling asleep approximately nine seconds before the staff whisked him into the surgery room.
I can’t stress how minor this procedure, a frenumectomy, was. The doctor simply clipped the little piece of skin, called the frenum, that connects the base of the mouth to the tongue. I probably could have seen a more serious procedure at the Piercing Pagoda in the mall yesterday. The only worrisome part was the general anesthetic he needed. If he were a little younger and unable to squirm or a few years older and able to hold still, the doctor could’ve ectomized his frenum in his office. Instead the doctor needed him knocked out to work without the flailing and the screaming.
Tory emerged from surgery in good shape. The doctor said he had one of the most severe tongue-ties he’s ever seen. It was so severe that simply placing the retractor in his mouth caused the frenum to split. The doctor finished the job, added one stitch, and they woke him up. Tory returned to Ellie hungry, off routine, and disoriented from the anesthesia. Ellie immediately addressed the hunger with a bottle, which he could thankfully eat without problem. The anesthesia wore off shortly thereafter, probably about the time he threw up most of his breakfast.
We spent the rest of the day putting him back on routine. I was worried that he’d be cranky for the rest of the day, in too much pain to eat, sleep, or do anything but cry and play in the dishwasher. He was actually in relatively good spirits that morning, screaming only marginally more than usual.
His first problem was falling asleep for the morning nap. The only time I give the boys a pacifier is when they sleep, and they’ve turned that into a crutch to fall asleep that could be fun to break when it’s time to toss the pacifiers. He wanted to fall asleep, but he needed to suckle to comfort himself to sleep, and sucking for comfort doesn’t work when you feel a sharp pain on every suckle. Eventually he drifted asleep and stayed asleep, but only after 15 minutes of screaming.
His next problem was during lunch. I figured that since he took his bottle without problem immediately after surgery, he should be ready for a normal meal a few hours after surgery. Apparently his mouth was too sensitive for solids though, because he screamed in agony every time I brought a spoon near his mouth. Not even Tasteeos cheered him up. His pain medicine must have worn off too because drinking his bottle seemed like a struggle.
Eventually he finished his bottle, and we made it through the day without much more fussing than normal. He was feeling good enough that night that we took him trick-or-treating.* Tory screamed frequently while we were out, but that was because he hated his costume. He might have been tired, too. Hopefully he’s in great spirits after an 8am wakeup.
* Yes, Des Moines does trick-or-treating the day before Halloween. Apparently it cuts down on hooliganism because the holiday always sneaks up on them a day early before they have a chance to plan pranks.
Tory was scheduled for surgery at 7:30, but the hospital wanted him there at 6am. They had a list of things they needed from him before his surgery, such as hemoglobin levels, weight, and an hour’s worth of screaming in the waiting room. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to this early wake time without even a meal as consolation. I assumed he’d cry from hunger and confusion most of the time. So I wished Ellie good luck and sent them out the door. It turns out he did cry a lot, but he also settled down and acted cute for much of the wait, eventually even falling asleep approximately nine seconds before the staff whisked him into the surgery room.
I can’t stress how minor this procedure, a frenumectomy, was. The doctor simply clipped the little piece of skin, called the frenum, that connects the base of the mouth to the tongue. I probably could have seen a more serious procedure at the Piercing Pagoda in the mall yesterday. The only worrisome part was the general anesthetic he needed. If he were a little younger and unable to squirm or a few years older and able to hold still, the doctor could’ve ectomized his frenum in his office. Instead the doctor needed him knocked out to work without the flailing and the screaming.
Tory emerged from surgery in good shape. The doctor said he had one of the most severe tongue-ties he’s ever seen. It was so severe that simply placing the retractor in his mouth caused the frenum to split. The doctor finished the job, added one stitch, and they woke him up. Tory returned to Ellie hungry, off routine, and disoriented from the anesthesia. Ellie immediately addressed the hunger with a bottle, which he could thankfully eat without problem. The anesthesia wore off shortly thereafter, probably about the time he threw up most of his breakfast.
We spent the rest of the day putting him back on routine. I was worried that he’d be cranky for the rest of the day, in too much pain to eat, sleep, or do anything but cry and play in the dishwasher. He was actually in relatively good spirits that morning, screaming only marginally more than usual.
His first problem was falling asleep for the morning nap. The only time I give the boys a pacifier is when they sleep, and they’ve turned that into a crutch to fall asleep that could be fun to break when it’s time to toss the pacifiers. He wanted to fall asleep, but he needed to suckle to comfort himself to sleep, and sucking for comfort doesn’t work when you feel a sharp pain on every suckle. Eventually he drifted asleep and stayed asleep, but only after 15 minutes of screaming.
His next problem was during lunch. I figured that since he took his bottle without problem immediately after surgery, he should be ready for a normal meal a few hours after surgery. Apparently his mouth was too sensitive for solids though, because he screamed in agony every time I brought a spoon near his mouth. Not even Tasteeos cheered him up. His pain medicine must have worn off too because drinking his bottle seemed like a struggle.
Eventually he finished his bottle, and we made it through the day without much more fussing than normal. He was feeling good enough that night that we took him trick-or-treating.* Tory screamed frequently while we were out, but that was because he hated his costume. He might have been tired, too. Hopefully he’s in great spirits after an 8am wakeup.
* Yes, Des Moines does trick-or-treating the day before Halloween. Apparently it cuts down on hooliganism because the holiday always sneaks up on them a day early before they have a chance to plan pranks.
posted by Matt at
10:55 PM
1 Comments:
Glad to hear he made it through OK. Hope he gets back to normal screaming levels soon.
By
Becky, at 9:04 AM
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