Getting Ready for T&A Surgery... We Hope

We've been hunkering down this week, trying to beat the crud.

The week started off pretty seamlessly.  Miss Cora had two appointments on Monday, which went pretty well.  First off she visited the audiologist again, who gave us pretty good news.  She said that Cora seems to hear speech very well and that she shows response to subtler tones too.  So overall she said not to be too worried about her hearing at this point.  I went in expecting another "inconclusive" diagnosis, which seems to be the norm with genetically-enhanced little ones, or so I hear.  Her ENT (a couple of weeks ago) says she doesn't have fluid build-up, which is great, since he also says her canals are too small to place tubes.  So far so good, but of course we'll continue to have her monitored.

Her pediatrician visit went well too. Cora's pediatrician is wonderful, so seeing her is always fun, until the shots at the end.  Her doctor is very patient with my LONG list of things to talk about and we always get lots of things planned for the next few months.

But the next day the crud hit.  At first I thought it may be just a vaccine reaction, but then Nick got sick.  And then I heard about Cora's little sometime-friend Samara.  (I only say sometime-friend, because although Samara LOVES Cora, little Beanie has decided that big kids are scary.  She needs a lot of warm up time.  During our Saturday dinner with friends it took the Beanie-one quite a long time and an episode of Baby Signing Time to convince her that she didn't need to cry every time she looked at 4-year old big girl Samara.  Thank goodness Samara is such a sweet and patient girl.  And really too bad that Samara came down with the crud the very next day).

In the meantime, Nick got on meds for bronchitis, and we started talking to the ENT's office about Cora's planned tonsil and adenoid removal set for this coming Monday.  According to the doc, a stuffy nose is fine, but a deep cough that impairs breathing or a fever are reasons to cancel the surgery.  And unfortunately, the surgery schedule is full for another month.

Another month of apnea and constantly interrupted sleep does not fit well into my life right now.  Especially since this week we were lucky if Cora ever slept an hour without waking.  She's boycotting her usual naps this week too.

Thank goodness, her fever is now gone and she seems to be feeling (and looking) much better.  But she does have a very occasional wet sounding cough.  I think it's just the last of the crud trying to get out.  No trouble breathing, no wheezing, and no rattling.  And I really think she'll be fine by Monday.  So we're not going to cancel it.  I guess the worst case scenario is that the anesthesiologist will make the call that she's not healthy enough and cancel it when he sees her on Monday (yes, I know... not ideal for their schedule).  And then we'd wait another month, which would be a drag.

But I'm picturing things clearing up really well.  My own crud is almost gone, Nick's getting his voice back, and we're just keeping on pumping little Cora full of good stuff like Mommy's milk, lots of cuddles and oodles of Signing Time.  This week and next week she will certainly be a couch-potato in-training.

But if all goes well, on Monday we'll check into the hospital at 8am for a 9am surgery, after a few hours of being deprived of nursing. Hopefully just a T&A, but if the laryngoscopy shows anything else, we may have another last-minute procedure thrown into the mix.  Keeping fingers crossed that this won't be needed.  And that her very infrequent cough has resolved by then.  And that they'll release her after just a one-night stay.  And that she heals quickly, can nurse, and isn't in too much pain.  Yes, I guess, hoping quite a lot.  No, it's certainly not open heart surgery, but it's stressful nonetheless, especially knowing that our baby will be in pain when it's done.

Hoping you all have a great weekend.  I may actually make an attempt to get myself and Cora out of our pajamas tomorrow. We'll have to see about that.

Still in a good mood, even with a fever and the sniffles.  Daddy is wearing his mask.

Oh, my poor little crud-ridden, insomniac girlie.  Not her best beauty-shot.

Her best zombie impression.  On the mend, and oh so serious....