I tried a few different home remedies, like a humidifier, saline before bed, vapor steam baths and so on. It would curb the nose bleeds temporarily, but they always returned. In August Mallory went in for her annual wellness check and while we were there we mentioned the chronic runny nose and the nose bleeds. Her pediatrician didn't see anything unusual but suggested we see an Ear Nose and Throat specialist or better known as an ENT. I called the specialty clinic to make an appointment for Mallory fully expecting to have to wait a few months, but luckily they were able to get her in to see the ENT within a few days.
In mid September we met with Dr. Pao Vang (read his bio, it's incredible). He took ONE look at Mallory's tonsils, backed his chair up and said "whoa, those are some huge tonsils in there". I knew right away what we were facing. Dr. Vang recommended a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy along with some cautering of blood vessels right on the surface in Mallory's nose. Her swollen tonsils were creating all sorts of problems, one of the being constant drainage which was drying out the adenoids which in turn was causing all the nose bleeds. All three were connected and he said this procedure will relieve Mallory of many things including her runny nose, the nose bleeds, sore throat, and her snoring. Her snoring was an additional problem causing her to have restless sleep. Mallory sleeps for long periods of time but she's restless. Both Christopher and I have shared a bed with her on a number of occasions to find she is a mover and shaker while she sleeps. That kid is ALL OVER the bed, twitching and talking in her sleep. Oh yeah, and she snores too, LOUDLY. Dr. Vang believes that is all because of her congestion from the constant draining due to all the swelling in there. Are you all still following??? Can you see what I'm driving at??? The tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy will relieve Mallory of all of these ailments giving her a more complete, restful sleep. We had no idea it was that bad and never even really thought of the sleep issue until he mentioned it to us. Looking back it seems like such a simple problem with a simple solution.
Mallory gave two thumbs up to having the procedure, so we scheduled it. The stars must have been aligned because I was hoping to schedule the surgery over the weekend when Education Minnesota holds there professional conference. Everyone in Minnesota knows this as MEA weekend, but it is no longer called MEA (Minnesota Education Association). This would be a perfect time since she will already be off from school. When Health Partners called to schedule the procedure, Friday, October 18th was their first availability so we penciled it in. Prior to the surgery, Mallory had to have a preop at our local Health Partners clinic. Her pediatrician checked her over and gave her the green light.
The morning of the big day we had to wake up at 4:30AM to get to the Health Partners Specialty Center at 6:00AM for check in. Mallory's surgery was scheduled for 7:15AM. She was pretty excited the morning of which I figured was a little bit of nervousness as well. She didn't show any fear and handled the hurry up and wait part pretty well. We had a few tears right before she went in as she didn't really like the pajama's they made her change into. If that was the only issue, I guess we're pretty lucky. Dr. Vang came in to explain the procedure to us and then Christopher was allowed to go back with Mallory while the anesthesiologist did his thing. Here is Mallory with Peace Bear, all ready and waiting to go back. You would never know she was a little nervous...
About an hour later Dr. Vang called us back and told us the procedure went great and that her tonsils were even bigger then he originally thought. He gave us a packet of postop information, allowed us to ask a few questions and then advised us we would have to wait until Mallory was fully awake to see her so back out to the waiting room we went. It was about 45 minutes later when we finally got to see our little misses. We couldn't wait to hug her, be with her and tell her she was going to be okay. I knew she was in good hands, but it was hard being away from her for those 45 minutes. She met us with a smile (of course she would) and a thumbs up. They checked her pulse, blood pressure and temperature and then she got to have a freezie pop.
Mallory had to be in recovery for two hours before she could go home but the nurses did not see any reason her release would be delayed. She was in good spirits, took her pain meds like a champ and watched part of the movie Cars before they disconnected everything and sent us on our way. In true Mallory fashion she had all the nurses doting over her and had created quite a fan club by the time we left. They all came out to say goodbye as they wheeled her downstairs. Yep, the coolest part was Mallory got to leave in a wheelchair. She was pretty excited about that.
The rest of the day was pretty easy. Once we got home she had another popcicle and then a single serve vanilla ice cream cup. It was a bit of a struggle to get her to take the pain meds every four hours (can't blame her, it tasted like sour milk with an onion in it) so it's a good thing she only had to take those meds for 48 hours. She slept quite a bit for the next two days, played quietly inside but had a good appetite. Although there are not many foods she can eat, she gobbled up whatever we gave her and a few times asked for a second helping. She has eaten plenty of ice cream, popcicles, mac and cheese, cheerios softened in milk and bread. No complications from anything as far as we can tell and she's been sleeping just fine through the night. We moved her mattress to the floor of our bedroom so we could be close to her and still be comfortable. Last night she asked to have it moved back into her room. She is still snoring but the postop packet said it would take a while for everything to heal and that is normal. It's also normal for her to have bad breath, which is nothing short of the truth. It's bad. Even after a good teeth brushing and swishing with mouthwash. Overall she appears to be healing and recovering just fine.
Today was her first day back at school. I haven't heard anything from the school so I have believe it's going well. I am sure she is going to be tired tonight, so I am anxiously awaiting my end time at work so I can go home and snuggle with her. I have a good feeling she will be much better after this whole ordeal. I can't wait for her to be healed and 100% so she can enjoy life without me constantly chasing behind her waving a kleenix. During all of this and even before the surgery, Mallory never complained once. She was a little down the morning of recovery day 3 as she just wanted to be normal again but other then that setback, she's been the best little patient a set parents could ask for. Thanks to everyone who called, emailed and checked in with us on Facebook. The support is wonderful and helpful. Here's to healing!
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