Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Finding Humor in a Less Than Ideal Situation

Liam has been keeping us up nights. Nick and I did not expect to lose this much sleep over our children until perhaps they reached the teenage years, but here we are, wandering slightly dazed through our days clutching enormous cups of very strong coffee. Several nights I have found myself actually falling asleep as soon as I put the kiddos to bed which, if you know me at all, is at least 4 hours before my usual night-owl bedtime. Why all the sleep loss you ask? It is because of our son, Liam (also known as "Thunder",) and the sounds that he is now emitting as he snores and snores away. Such noise should not be able to be produced from such a small individual and has resulted in the following:

a. he wakes all of us up and no one gets a good night of sleep - this makes for terrific interpersonal dynamics the following day
b. he wakes himself up - tossing and turning all night long, he is not getting good sleep and will, accordingly, fall asleep the next day truly in mid-sentence. Example: "Mommy, I love playing with this car. It....is...so........(snore snore snore)"
c. I lie awake listening to every breath because, in a new twist on the snoring, he is now also suffering from sleep apnea where he will be snoring away and then all of a sudden stop for a few seconds and wake up coughing and gasping and sputtering for air. My heart also stops in these moments and there have been times when I think I may have managed to teleport myself, not really remembering how and not understanding how quickly, I suddenly find myself in his room over his bed checking on him.

SO....our pediatrician checked out his tonsils - which apparently are alarmingly huge - and referred us immediately to an ENT specialist. The ENT took one look at Liam's throat and declared that the tonsils and adenoids have to go. He said that the tonsils are graded on size on a scale of 1-4, 4 being the largest and Liam's are "4s....if I could give them a 5 I would". Super duper. Poor little guy! Nick and I have also noticed with great affection that Liam often sounds like a muppet (check earlier video post of Liam eating a popsicle for an example). The doc said this was because of his tonsils being so large that talking around and through them causes a funny voice which will change when the surgery is done. He also said Liam's propensity to only want to eat things like yogurt and applesauce (soft foods) may have a lot to do with the fact that it is tough to actually pass food through the tonsils. Oh my goodness!!!

So there is no doubt, the tonsils and adenoids must come out. It should solve the snoring, breathing, eating , voice issues and more. His surgery is December 12 and he will have to be admitted and stay overnight in the hospital because he is so young. I am sad to think of him being scared in the hospital and being uncomfortable during the recovery but know that this is the absolute best thing for him - and for us all! It is "routine" and no big deal ultimately. He will be a-ok. He is stubborn enough to give us hell while he is going through it, but that same attitude will help him recover quickly

NOW FOR THE HUMOR!

The nurse gave us a "comic book" at the appointment to go over with the kids and introduce them to the procedure. I have to credit her for the absolute unflappable attitude with which she presented the book to us. I looked at her closely to see if she was masking the obvious or if she really was naive enough to not see the bawdy humor and inappropriate undertones of what she was actually showing to me (hint - it is the title). I could not read her at all. SO below is a picture of the book that was given to us. If you are so pure-hearted and unscathed as to not know what it means, God Bless you (and email me if you want to know, or ask someone - though innocence such as that should really remain intact). If you get the joke, laugh along with me. And, REALLY, can you believe that this title got by a publisher somewhere? Do they know the joke and think it is funny? Maybe this is just what the procedure is called in the medical world - - - though I would think it more pertinent for a plastic surgeon's office.

1 comment:

Cap Fam said...

We wish Liam and the whole family the best for an uneventful procedure and speedy recovery...If the pamphlet title was a test of innocence then I am the guiltiest person on the planet...I'm with you, shame on the publisher! Merry Christmas! I love your posts. Jen+3