Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Like a Hole in the Head

You know the phrase "I need this like another hole in my head"? Well, sometimes you do need an extra hole (or two) in the head.

Max went in to day to get the tubes in his ears replaced. His old tubes were pretty much out and needed two new holes to be put in his head. We had a good long ear infection free run with the old set, but now he was getting them again.

Things were a little bit different this time around. There still is the same old no food after midnight, but now it is acceptable to have clear liquids up to two hours before surgery. And I must say it makes all the difference in the world when you can give a kid a spot of lemonade before you drag them into the hospital. That hit of sugar made him a far cheerier person. Admittedly he was still hungry, but not nearly as grumpy as last time.

In fact he was downright hilarious when the pre-anesthetic cocktail hit him. It was just a little something to reduce his anxiety (which he has a lot of) and relax him before they put him under. They handed it off to me in a little plastic cup for him to drink down. It took a bit of prodding, but he did slug it down. He was initially fine, but after about 10 minutes it hit him like a sack of bricks. He couldn't sit up, much less stand and his speech became exaggerated and slurred. It was like having a miniature drunk college student in my lap. He had a toy phone smashed against his face and kept saying "Heeeey Naaate!" Nate and Rebecca, meanwhile, caught on to what was going on and started dancing about in a slow motion while waving their arms. All four of them were giggling madly. Then the staff came and whisked Max away in a little red wagon.

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