Sofia's Surgery

It's been a while since I've visited this space. A while back Sofia had a sleep study that showed she had sleep apnea. I thought they'd schedule her for tonsils/adenoids immediately but the doctor said he wasn't extremely concerned since her tonsils weren't too big and her sleep study wasn't too bad (mild sleep apnea). She wasn't having any symptoms of sleep apnea at the time so we agreed to revisit the surgery if things changed. Over the past several months we've noticed a change in her sleep and have observed behaviors that definitely indicate sleep apnea. She was snoring, having pauses in her breathing, waking up gasping for air, sleeping sitting up or folded in half, and just never seemed fully rested. So when we went to the girls' annual Down Syndrome Clinic appointment, we mentioned our concerns. The doctor looked over the report and let us know that Sofia's sleep study was actually WORSE than Mila's!!! We know how much Mila's sleep and overall disposition improved after she had her tonsils/adenoids out, so we were shocked to hear Sofia's sleep study was even worse. When we spoke with the ENT we were under the impression that it really wasn't too bad! With her sudden increase in symptoms, the doctor at the DS clinic thought it'd be a good idea to go ahead with the surgery, so we had it scheduled.

Sofia had her tonsils and adenoids out on Friday, along with having her ears cleaned (TONS of wax!) and tubes checked. She and I made the drive to the children's hospital and stayed overnight while Shawn stayed here to work and take care of the girls, with some help from Uncle Mike! Her surgery was a bit delayed so she didn't get back to the OR until about 2:45. I was so stressed about this surgery because she has made such great progress in the last few months (emotionally) and I was afraid this would set her back.

She did pretty good waiting all day without eating, for the most part! 

Here are some pictures of her waiting to go back! 

Here she is once we got back to the preop room. She was not too thrilled about the socks she was supposed to wear and took them off 48 times before I finally gave up :) 

We were told it would be about an hour longer than expected and although Sofia was doing great, my Mama instincts told me this Ticking Time Bomb didn't have an hour left in her! Who can blame her, she hadn't eaten since 9:00pm the night before and it was now about 1:30pm! 

And, as I predicted, the time bomb went off and this happened: 

We regrouped, snuggled and I sang "You are My Sunshine" (her favorite song) about 32 times and it was all good! 

They almost forgot the premed to help her relax before going back to the OR. It made her silly, but not sleepy at first so I was worried!!! By the time we got back to the OR it had fully kicked in and worked PERFECTLY!

She did pretty well since they let me go back to the OR and they gave her some meds to calm her before the surgery. They worked so well she was pretty docile in the OR, except when they put the mask on her to go to sleep. She went out fighting! At my request they also allowed me into the recovery room before she woke up from anesthesia which also helped immensely! I have found that my girls (especially Zoya and Sofia) have a much higher level of "medical anxiety" and have a much harder time with the separation that happens during surgeries. Zoya has gotten much better over time, but Sofia is in the depth of her trust-building and I knew it'd be detrimental for her if she woke up in recovery without me there (heck I can hardly go to the bathroom at home and leave her in another room at this point!).

I was thrilled to see her still asleep when I went back! It took her a bit to wake up, but that was fine with me because I knew I'd be there when she woke up. 

The nurse couldn't believe that she didn't wake up screaming and crying! She said 90% of their 2 year old patients who have this surgery wake up screaming bloody murder. Honestly, I'm shocked she wasn't screaming as well! She was pretty clingy and demanding once we got to our room. Nothing was making her happy and I literally could not MOVE (not even my eyeballs) without her getting upset. After a few hours she settled down. We had a roommate for the night who had quite a few "visitors" which Sofia did not appreciate (neither did I). Luckily both Sofia and her roommate slept pretty well overnight with no crying! I slept with Sofia and she literally had to have at least one hand on me at all times. For much of the night she laid half on top of me so I couldn't move...I'm pretty sure that was her plan! :)

For a while after surgery if I tried to take a picture she kept turning her head. I think she was a little POed at me! 

Looking at herself in the phone camera! Blue tongue from her slushie! 

She started looking sleepy and I thought, this is too good to be true! 

Sure enough it was ;) By the time the nurse came in with her "before bed" med dose, she had gotten a second wind! 

After a bit she wore herself out though :) 

I snapped this pic the next morning when she was snuggled up to me. I did take a few punches to the nose and kicks to the ribs overnight, but I think she was happy to have me by her side! 

At least she found comfort in her Mama! We had an AMAZING nurse for much of the night so that made our night go much smoother!!! She slept the entire 2.5 hour drive home and rocked her recovery until TODAY. She's struggling today, but still eating and drinking enough that I'm not concerned. I just feel bad she's in so much pain!

Day 1 post op, rockin it!: 

Day 2 post op: "Who just had their tonsils and adenoids out??? Not ME!" 

Day 3 post op: snuck right up and sucker punched us!!! 

Even though she wasn't feeling hot, once her motrin kicked in she was willing to eat some scrambled eggs and ice cream! She had a rough morning and is napping now. I'm praying today is her worst day for recovery (although I know days 5-7 are usually the roughest). 

Here's hoping Sofia feels back to herself in no time (or, wait, should I be wishing that???? ;))