Surgery 1; Tyson 0

It has been a long couple days.  We were up at 430am yesterday and at the hospital by 530am for Tyson's cleft palate repair, cleft lip and nose revision.  Surgery got underway about 8am - after a few snags and some resistance from Tyson.  Melissa had to gown up and go with him into the prep room and hold him as they gave him orange flavored laughing gas.  After that he went off the surgery and we sat helpless in the waiting room for HOURS.  We got hourly updates from a nurse in the OR but nothing more than that things were going well and on time.  

Dr Roche, the ENT, went first to check Ty's ears under sedation - Ty has not allowed any medical personnel near his ears since China, throwing monster tantrums if they even get close with an otoscope - and today we found out why. Or, at least part of the reason.  Dr. Roche pulled a bead the size of a pea out of Ty's right ear and it looked like it had been there a while.  He has not been in contact with any beads here in the states and the bead looks curiously "china-like"; so who knows how long this thing has been pressing against him eardrum.  My dad scoffed at the idea of the bead looking "Chinese", but upon seeing the bead in it's specimen container he said, "I'll be darned, it does look Chinese!"  Ty also had the pleasure of having tubes put in his ears to help with fluid drainage.

The palate and lip surgery went well but took a long time by our clock.  My mom came to keep us company and we're sure glad we had her there for support. We were finally called back to the PACU a little after 1pm and sat with him until he came to.   PACU rules dictate only two adults are allowed with each child - so mom and I traded off once for her to spend some time with Tyson in recovery.  We didn't actually get to Ty's room until after 5pm, but it was a single occupant room and that was well worth the wait.  Ty's been in a lot of pain but has refuse to take the liquid oral medications he's been offered, so he's been really fussy.  I stayed with Ty until a little after 8pm last night and them my dad and I left.  The hospital let both Melissa and my mom stay the night with Tyson in his room.  The plan was that they could have a continuous vigil throughout the night and take turns resting/sleeping.  Ah, the best laid plans....

Tyson would only receive comfort from Melissa and got upset and even furious if Melissa left his bedside -even going to the restroom became a major ordeal.   He was all around miserable and was very fussy to deal with.  So, neither Melissa nor my mom got any sleep last night.  And I had to work today, so I wasn't able to get home until after 3pm today.  He has hardly said anything today other than "out", as in "I want out of this hospital."  They finally let the little guy at 1pm.  He's still not willing to take any fluids or food but he was on an IV all night and we can attest that he was very well hydrated.  Standing pee breaks became an hourly ritual last night.

So, it's 5pm now.  Tyson is fitfully sleeping on the couch and Melissa is knocked out in the bedroom for some well deserved sleep.  I am watching over the little guy who seems to wake up about once every 15 minutes, cries for a few minutes and then drifts off again.  He does not receive comfort very well and looks at me like "you did this to me!"  In short, he has been miserable.  So, even though the surgery went well (thank the Lord), the recovery has been very difficult.  Please keep him in your prayers; specifically he needs to start taking his meds, drinking fluids and eating soft foods - all of which he refuses to do right now.  Melissa had me pick up some Tylenol suppositories to, er, circumvent the fluid refusal part, but if he thought drinking children's Tylenol was painful...  Anyhow, we are hoping to get some pain meds and antibiotics into him tonight, so that could use some praying over.  I'll keep y'all posted on the progress.

Travis