After some drama... the tubes are in!

Nothing is ever easy or uncomplicated when it comes to Nathaniel. I told Thayne it wouldn't be 'just' ear tubes. I had told Thayne he should just come with me he laughed and said it would be 'just' tubes. Okay, so we have been through it many times before... but I am usually the one that deals with it while Thayne is working. I've even dealt with several of them getting tonsils out alone. But I was worried that it wouldn't be 'just' tubes with this child. He didn't let me down... it's always fun to tell Thayne "I told you so" because he is so fun to tease! His lungs were clear Tuesday evening at his check up. I told Dr S that I forgot his Zantac and Singulair but we didn't think too much about it. We got to the hospital at 7:30am on Wednesday and the anesthesiologist, Steve, came in. He was doing the normal checks and listened to his lungs after going over his history. He then told me he had huge concerns over doing this surgery today with his lungs. He said his lungs had fluid in them. He was awesome, talked to me about his history. He had worked at Primary Children's for 8 years and said that he was concerned that Nate could have serious complications and we would be in serious trouble because the hospital wasn't equiped to handle the problems they could face if they went forward with his operation and that he just couldn't lose this baby on the table over ear tubes. He said he would talk to Dr S and they would be back in. Dr S and Steve came in and after listening to his lungs again Dr S said that his lungs had been clear. He told me that all night he had a thought in the back of his mind that without the Zantac, Nate may aspirate and that it may be a pattern with him at night, that he aspirates and then sounds junkie all day and by afternoon has it cleared out. After another anesthesiologist, Ron (who has always taken care of us) came in for another opinion. He agreed with Dr S and his theory and offered another solution. The ear tubes absolutely needed to be done. Even on antiobiotics Nate had fluid and infection. So he offered to come in and help with the surgery himself at 4pm, keep Nate on clear fluids all day and give him his Zantac and Singulair and then try again if his lungs cleared. At 4pm, his lungs were perfect. They went forward with the sugery but told me they were going to go slow, put him under slowly and suction his throat out. It went very quickly and Dr S came out and gave me the thumbs up saying that Nate did absolutely perfect, it went smoothly and that this little boys stars lined up perfectly again! He said it couldn't have gone better. His left ear was horrible but they were glad to get it done.

The great thing is that I learned more in 5 minutes with Dr S about Nate than we have been able to in the last 8 or so months going to other doctors. He listened to Nate's lungs and asked if he had been tested for asthma. We discussed his history and he immediately got us an appointment with a pulmonoligst on November 7th and wants us to discuss the possibility that the respitory problems are from a severe case of reflux. He told me that what he saw without the Zantac spoke volumes about what is really going on with this little boy and he believes he will need surgery in order to fix the problems. He also believes that tracheomalacia is a definate possibility and wants to follow through and get this baby living a normal life.

I sat in the hospital room with Dr S, Steve and a dear friend and nurse, Marion. They wanted to hear Nate's whole history again. I was stressed out about his lungs having fluid in them and was kind of upset. As I told them what we had gone through with all of the doctors and the hospital stays, they cried with me. Dr S said he was so upset that the medical profession had let us down so badly and that he was so sorry. I was so amazed as they wiped their eyes and expressed their desire to find the answers to help us get Nathaniel healthy. We are so blessed to know people like this. They were an answer to our prayers and I believe that we will be able to move forward with getting answers for Nate's health issues. He will be rechecked for cystic fibrosis but after everything Dr S saw he doesn't believe that will be an issue. He thinks it all comes down to severe reflux, worse than we originally thought. It will be so good to be able to get him some help!!!

So after a scary start, he was the miracle that we have always known him to be!!!