Helios Visits the Hospital

After probably more than two dozen ear infections in his short 2+ years, Mommy and Daddy finally broke down and took Helios to have ear tubes inserted. It was a tough call and involved much consulting with the family doctor (Daddy's aunt Pollyana), reading, and so forth. So, bright and early one Monday morning (quite early, since we had to be at the hospital by 6am for prep), Helios and Mommy checked into the hospital. Possibly the hardest part of the entire experience was telling Helios that he couldn't have any water, juice, or Os (Cheerios) on the drive, since he needed to be there with an empty stomach.

We arrived at the hospital with a little smattering of applause from Helios who recognized it as the "baby store" where we got little brother Hesperos. For anyone wondering, yes, Helios has asked for "more Hesperos, more Hesperos come home!" No, there won't be any more. Helios will just need to get a dog, cat, gerbil, hamster, or boa constrictor to satisfy his big brother desires.

After checking in, Helios got down to his underpants and socks and was garbed in a gown of his choosing, blue with sea creatures (preferable to the one with green dinosaurs). It delightfully matched his blue fleece jacket, which he models here for your viewing pleasure. Notice how the dark blue embroidery around the zipper complements the stenciling of the sea creatures and the iris of Helios' eyes. Oh, wait...that's another blog.

Helios was given a liquid sedative which made him a little sleepy. He was then wrapped in a heated blanket and taken back to the operating room, carried by the anesthesiologist. The two tubes were inserted, and he was then taken to a recovery room where he slept for another 45 minutes without the aid of anaesthesia. The medical staff were quite impressed that he was out for about 90 minutes and didn't wet his underwear (they recommend diapers for the operation up to 4 years old). The nurses kept trying to wake him up but he was probably enjoying the snooze. It took Mommy suggesting that they offer him food and orange juice. Surprise, surprise, he woke up immediately.

Upon returning to the prep room, Helios chilled for a little bit before he developed the shakes and started crying. He got over that within about 20 minutes and then we proceeded back to the car where Helios feasted on orange juice, veggie bacon, Cheerios, and toaster waffle before going to daycare.

The unfortunate side note is that in the mere two weeks since Helios got his ear tubes, he already has had one ear infection. But, we hope to see more improvement in the weeks to come. The next step is ear replacement surgery.