At the time of writing this entry, my son had ear tubes placed a few days ago. I was very anxious about it beforehand, because I was worried about my son being scared about what was happening around him and to him. He is young enough that ear tubes have to be placed under general anesthesia, because he isn’t going to sit still while you stick things in his ears. I think the beforehand part went somewhat ok, but afterwards was the worst.
The procedure was probably less than 10 minutes, but it wasn’t long before I could hear him screaming and crying. They wheeled him out on a bed, and he had his bottom up in the air like he was sleeping. His eyes were still closed, and it was so hard to watch. I immediately was given a seat and he was given to me. Eventually his eyes opened and the crying stopped, but it was absolute hell to see the anguish in him. We were told several times that this reaction is pretty typical for little ones, and sure enough other little kids seemed to have the same reaction. But it is different when it is YOUR child. I think most parents get that. It was heartbreaking, and it was only for ear tubes. I can’t even imagine how it would feel to have your child undergo anything more involved like surgery or another procedure. The feeling as a parent is so profound, and I can’t even begin to describe it.
It seemed like eventually everything was fine. But in the middle of the night my son started vomiting. After consulting with others, it seems that it wasn’t related to the procedure, but it still had made for another unfortunate day for my son.
So far, the last day or so has gone well, and I’m hoping we are done with procedures and illness for awhile. Of course, illness is a part of life, but I’m hoping that my son gets a break from it for now.