Brave Mason

(Pre-surgery-- clueless in the waiting room; still in good spirits in his hospital gown- no idea what's in store for him)
Mason had surgery Dec. 27, 2011 to shave down his tonsils, to remove his adenoids, and to put tubes in his ears. He has been a big trooper through all of the testing that has led us to this point. After an overnight sleep study (hoping to figure out why he doesn't sleep well), we determined that he does have a bit of apnea and the choice was made to remove these items. We opted for the less invasive/quicker recovery of just shaving the tonsils down. The hope is that Mason's congestion and sleep will improve after all of this (thus far, not much change has been noted), but we are glad we did this still to eliminate these factors and are hoping for great results!

He did awesome through all of the operation stuff. The hardest part was having him wake up struggling to know what had happened to him, sad, throwing up, and in pain. I had chosen to be very vague with him on what would happen and though I'd told him it would hurt, you could tell that it caught him off-guard. That was hard, but I still felt gratitude for several things that day: a supportive husband that could spend the day with us (crazy how vulnerable I feel when watching my kids get pinned down for anesthesia and waking up delirious), grateful for family at home to watch my other 3 boys (glad we scheduled the surgery during Cole's Christmas break when we had no commitments, and happy that Wyatt will now take a bottle-- fewer worries on all accounts), and so much admiration for the doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital. They are so kind to kids and families who just don't want to be there. Mason's recovery has been quick and better than expected, and that has been a blessing for all of us.

(Post-surgery-- a brave face, trying to enjoy his wheelchair ride)