I hate minority %'s!

No. I'm not being racist. I'm not swearing. I'm talking about "oh, don't worry about that. It's a complication that could happen, but it only happens in one in [insert really high number HERE] cases". The reason I don't like conversations like that is because we more than likely WILL be in that "unlikely scenario" with my oldest child. This is my son who had Pyloric Stenosis as a 5 week old...was allergic to EVERYTHING...Has had multiple tubes placed and NOW can add a scab falling off too early after a tonsilectomy resulting in a gushing amount of blood...to that ever growing list of complicated things that could, but more than likely won't happen.

Going into the tonsils and adenoids surgery, we knew that there was a 1%-3% chance that he would have a "bleeder" and we'd have to go back to the hospital to either have it cauterized in the ER or may even have to put him under anesthesia again if it were a more extensive bleed. Well...Day 7 of post tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy IS also the most common day of such an occurrence. We had almost made it through the "magical" day without incidence. ALMOST. Kaiden was sitting on the couch and Ken tickled him from behind, he fell of the couch and started crying that his knee hurt. No biggie, right? Well, that must have been what knocked something loose on his throat and an artery started to bleed. Yes, I said AN ARTERY...It was a lot of bright, red blood. Luckily, it did quit bleeding fairly quickly. At most I think he lost maybe 1/4 cup of blood (they made me "estimate" in the ER...How do I do that?!?! The poor guy swallowed most of it!) So then, I called the on-call Dr. and he said that we had to go to ER. I was, unfortunately, expecting as much.

All of this happened, mind you, right AFTER he had eaten his "dinner"...yogurt, Carnation instant breakfast, and Gatorade...if you want to call that dinner. So if he needed to have the full blown surgery, I knew we would be waiting because they need all the food to be cleared from your stomach to get put under anesthesia. Perfect timing...

When we got there, we got put right in a room (which was wonderful. I have never heard of an ER waiting room being empty...but it was...and it was BEAUTIFUL!). But then the waiting began. We waited for an IV. We waited for the Resident. We waited to hear from the Surgeon. We waited for an OR room to be available. We waited for Anesthesia. All in all, we waited for about 3.5 hours from the time we got there and the time he got back into an OR.

The surgery went beautifully. The Surgeon came out afterward and talked told me that sometimes when they go in and "fix" something like this in the OR, they wonder if they really needed to go to that length, but in Kaiden's case...this was the best option. It was quite a bit "bleeder" and there was no question that this was the best thing to do. I found out at that point that we would have to stay the night because by the time he was out of PACU, it would be about 12/1am, and the PACU supposedly closes at 11...so they had to get us out of there and into a room upstairs. Kaiden came out of anesthesia SO much better than a week ago. He was in a lot less pain than having the initial surgery, which was nice.

We didn't get up to the room until about 12, and weren't able to get to sleep until about 1am. He was up, bright and early at 6:30 (I don't know how that child survives on such little sleep!) and we were discharged at about 10am. He's napping right now (no big surprise), and we are "starting over" on our 10 day plan. Soft foods and a VERY strict diet for the next 10 days, with much more limited activity. God's plans are definitely not our own...something that I have learned over and over as a parent. Sometimes I just need a "gentle" reminder that I am not in control NEARLY as much as I think I am.

Prayers are coveted as we "start over" on this healing process both for Kaiden's pain, and for patience during this confusing time for him. He is all set on Michigan's Adventure for tomorrow, and eating "real" food again on Monday. I think our patience will be tried and tested in the next few weeks...