SUCCESS!!!!

Cade's surgery went perfectly!

The Lord protected our little man, and he handled the surgery just perfectly. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes....THEY WORKED!

We checked in right on time at the Ambulatory Surgery Center and Cade was an instant hit will all of the nurses. He is quite the charmer...he gets it from his Daddy :) They loved his round cheeks and rolly polly legs....wanted to gobble him up....could you blame them?! They brought us back into his room, and everything was pretty fast paced from that moment on. A team of nurses came in to take his vitals (of which he was having none of), and since he was the first surgery of the morning, they told us to hang out until the room was fully prepped. So they handed us the remote to a flat screen/plasma tv (read: NICE!), so we entertained Cade with a little Spongebob Squarepants, and waited patiently. Not but 5 minutes later, the anesthesiologist walked in. (Here's a little back story: I work for an oral surgeon's office and our CRNA who works for us is salt of the earth. This man (Kevin) sees to it that Cade and I are cared for, fed, and in working order when DJ is out to sea. His family is incredible! Never met a family more giving and selfless and committed to heartfelt outreaches. Kevin is retired Navy and knows the importance of the "extended" military family and can relate to alot of our situations. He went out of his way to call the Naval Hospital to coordinate who would be Cade's anesthesiologist to make sure he got the best care possible ((I know, melts your heart doesn't it?!)). He wanted Cade in the best medical hands, ones he would trust his kids to....So in walks Ian). Ok back to the story....

So in walks Ian, the man who would take care of Cade throughout his procedure...a happy soul with a great smile and warm eyes. Much like Kevin. In that instant, a calm moved over me. I trusted Kevin and therefore, now I trusted Ian. Soon the lead O.R. nurse came in along with Cade's ENT Doctor. Briefly went over the procedure again and asked us if we had any questions. Mine wasn't a question, but I reiterated to take care of my baby boy. All the doctors and nurses in unison said, "of course, we will". So DJ, Cade, myself the and medical staff made the long journey down the surgery hall and let us take Cade all the way back to the operating room doors and then Ian scooped him up, began making funny noises and bouncing Cade up and down and then they were gone behind the doors. DJ gave me a big hug and we ventured on to the waiting room. I immediately grabbed my cell phone to call my mom, and DJ grabbed his phone to call his :) (we are each others' mother's babies...hehe).

Not but 20 minutes later, in walks Dr. McDowell smiling. Surgery was a success!! He did say it was a lot worse than he had anticipated and the ear canals and drums were significantly irriated, therefore making the procedure a bit more in depth. He said the amount of (tmi) puss, snot, and overall ickiness was very thick and traveled very far into the canals. He was able to suction out a bunch, but with the severity of irriation, he didn't want to run the risk of making matters worse. He said the tubes would do their job from here on out in allowing everything else to drain.

As we approached the recovery room, I could hear Cade screaming. I wanted to bust through the doors and get to my baby...but I had to put my intent listening ears and eyes on Dr. McDowell as he continued to tell us how the procedure went, what to look for should something come up, etc...but I'm not going to lie, once I heard Cade crying, his explanations soon turned into something resembling the Charlie Brown teacher, "whaa whaa whaa whaa". As soon as they opened the doors, I threw my stuff at DJ in a quaterback manner, thrusting everything in a disorganized shuffle, so I could get to Cade. DJ didn't know what hit him as he scrambled to hold onto everything....and I took off to scoop up my baby. I had a bottle ready, the nurse placed him in my arms, and silence fell across the recovery room. Dr. McDowell said, "aaww a Momma's boy, just wanted his momma" :) That he is, and that I love!! We stayed in the recovery room until he vitals stablized a bit more, then we went into Step-Down recovery and stayed there for another 45 minutes or so, signed our discharge papers, got our prescriptions....THEN WE GOT THE GREEN LIGHT TO GO HOME!!!

Cade slept the whole way home and was ravenous for lunch when we got home. The boy has an appetite and no surgery could stop him :)

So far, everything seems to be going as planned. We have a follow up appt. in a month to check on everything and how his hearing has improved....but his doctors agree this will be the end to our little man's suffering. What a relief to hear!! (no pun intended).

I was going to include some pictures, but I got frustrated with how to do it....so be on the lookout if I have your email for a couple pictures of the day :)....thank you again for all the prayers and well wishes! We love you all!!