Tonsils..... you're outa here!

Last fall, in October Brianne got strep...and again in November....and December....and January...and so on until  she had it twice in April. Ever the sweet girl, she never showed any pain or anguish from it.  I only knew because of a rash that would appear on her bum...and if I didn't notice it soon enough, it would creep up her torso.  The first time she got it I tried every sort of cream and diaper rash remedy I could think of to get rid of her red blotchy rash...until I finally told her doctor, who recognized it immediately  as a strep rash.
    During this time we were meeting with her ENT for possibly putting ear tubes back in (they had fallen out and she was again having hearing problems (or was it selective listening?  Probably both :)  ...and I mentioned that she had strep twice now (this was in November).  Well, he wanted to keep an eye on it, plus,  wasn't fond of taking her tonsils out because she was so young....so he had us come back....again and again and again, just to keep an eye on her.  Finally, after a sleep study (to see what her oxygen saturation rate was at night--so-so at 92), and an X-ray of her neck (precautionary procedure for a child with Down Syndrome), he finally determined that this girl need to get those tonsils out!  (4/17)
   Six days later, 4/23 (wow! that was a quick turn around time from appointment to surgery) she and I arrived early in the morning and she had an tonsillectomy, partial adenoids removed and ear tubes put back in ( and yes, there was fluid in the ear canal...and yes, she's listening much better....she will turn and respond to me when I call her name.)
   Her doctor,  Dr. Aaron Prussin, (by the way he's wonderful!), told me often that she would probably need to stay overnight because of her past issues with oxygen and her Down Syndrome.  I kept praying and hoping for the best.  Later, her anesthesiologist told me, that he too, will probably want her to stay, I resigned myself to the fact that this wouldn't be a one day-in the hospital--affair.  However,  by three o'clock, Dr. Prussin came in and said that he just couldn't see and medical reason to keep her over night, she had done remarkably well....her O2 rates were up and she tolerated the pain med's well.
   I was thrilled.  He was still nervous about letting us go, but I assured him that I still had a pulse oyx machine to monitor her oxygen rates.  That bit of information visibly gave him relief and he let us go home.  Yeah!
    Eleven days later, I returned to his office for a follow up.  When he came in the office to see her, he said "I was sure I would have to admit her later that day...she's done remarkably well with this surgery."  It didn't occur to me until then that the blessing her daddy gave her, early in the morning before we left for the hospital was so beneficial to her recovery.  She was blessed that all would go well.  Dr. Prussin is a favorite among other parents of kids with Down Syndrome, Brianne isn't his first patient with DS.  He's performed surgery multiple times....and I'd bet that those little cuties did have to stay over night.  Which explains why he was so surprised that Brianne didn't.  I don't know this for sure, but I do know that a loving Heavenly Father helped his little daughter Brianne (Barry and I too), so that she didn't have to stay overnight.  I once again had my faith strenghtened and testimony reconfirmed of the love Heavenly Father has for us, how he is mindful of our needs, concerns, wants and desires.  It wouldn't have been horrible if she had to stay, but it would have been hard for our family--especially the other two younger ones, as they were rather emotional and needy themselves.
   She had a bit of a hard recovery.  She was extremely cranky, picky and persnickety with anyone, but me, holding her.  I was all she wanted or needed in her life at that moment.  After about 10-12 days of feeling crummy...she woke up happy and wanted others around her again.  Yeah!  I love my daughter, but I was quickly tiring of having a very heavy appendage--33 pounds to be exact!-- stuck to my hip!!   A friend of mine told me that she and her husband remind each other of an old Indian saying...."All's well that ends well, if it's not well....then it's not the end!"   And that has proved well for this episode in our lives.    All is well once again in our home...I have a happy, strep free toddler and I can put her down or into the arms of her daddy--which he's quite happy with too!