Leila's T&A

As Raj mentioned, Leila had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She had her adenoids removed last year, but they grew back. Her tonsils were HUGE. She couldn't breathe and was constantly getting sick. While she was under anesthesia, the ENT also inserted ear tubes since her first pair was such a godsend.

For recuperation period, the ENT prepared us for 7-10 days of absolute misery. Having tonsils removed is quite painful. Then, on day 7, the scabs fall off and the bleeding begins, which could be a problem.

So far, Leila's recovery is congruent with the description. It's painful, so she cries and cries. She says, "hurt hurt hurt" and "ouch ouch ouch" and just cried. I give her tylenol with codeine, which takes the edge off her pain but makes her nauseas. On Saturday and Sunday, she was sick. She laid around like a sack of potatoes - feeling terrible and dry heaving all day Saturday. In the middle of the night (why do these things ALWAYS happen in the middle of the night???) she vomited and vomited and vomited - and spent all day Sunday laying around nearly lifeless. The ENT doctor on call says she must have gotten a virus because vomiting isn't a complication of a tonsilectomy. Luckily, she's over it and we're moving on, happy to be this far past the surgery.

Poor Leila, she learned to talk with HUGE tonsils, which were like having marbles in her mouth. So now that they're gone, she can't talk. She squeeks a lot and makes lots of nasal sounds. I can't understand a word she says. I'm sure she'll adapt in due time.