Makayla's Tonsils

In April, at Makayla's wellness check, her doctor took one look at her tonsils and exclaimed,"Those are definitely coming out! They are abnormally large and probably interfering with her sleep." I confirmed that the tonsils caused Makayla to snore loudly and sometimes seemingly stop breathing and flail her arms (aka sleep apnea).  So he gave us a referral sheet of the best ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doctors in our network.  And I found my own ear doctor, Dr. Gull, on that list.  Soon after, I was making an appointment with him to see my daughter.  Dr. Gull agreed that Makayla's tonsils should come out, as they were blocking her breathing path at night.  So we made a surgery appointment for June 28th, during summer vacation from school.

We arrived at 9am and they got her prepped for tonsil removal surgery.

They encouraged her to bring a stuffed animal for comfort.

Dr. Gull even offered to take a few photos in the operating room since I wasn't allowed in.

He took this one just after her medicine put her to sleep.

And snapped a photo of her tonsils.  What a cool doctor!

After her surgery she was given a grape slushee to drink.

Such a strong girl!  For one week after, she was only allowed to eat soft foods like yogurt, applesauce, smoothies, etc.  Her first request was mashed potatoes and gravy.

Her cat (MaryEllen) was dressed up for surgery too.

Grandma Vickie and Grandpa Marv sent her a beautiful bouquet and balloon.

We picked her up a couple of 10 dollar lollipops for her numbing medicine.  They worked really well: lick for 30 seconds and it numbed her throat for up to 3 hours.

And her Activity Days leaders made her some chocolate dipped strawberries.  Makayla was such a trooper!  She handled the one week of soft foods like a champ.  Going 10 days without exercising or intense activity was more of a challenge, but she did it!  She recovered smoothly and now when I watch her sleep, she is getting all the air she needs and snoring less.  Sounds good!