The Viscomi Family: Goodbye Tonsils & Adenoids

Finally!!!! This needed to happen over a year ago but I really wanted to wait until she turned 3. Makena has been sick at least one full week out of every month since November 2010. We could look at a calendar and know exactly when she was going to be sick and when the worst days would be. 3 days out of every month she would have a fever in the 104's. We had to alternate medicines every 3 hours, 24 hours a day to try to control the high fevers. With the high fevers came blue lips, grey eyes and body shaking.....not to mention the fact that we could literally feel her body heat without even touching her. Ryan and I would take turns sleeping with Makena so we could make sure a cold rag was on her at all times and she was constantly drinking liquids. The first day of each sickness she would have a few white spots on her tonsils and by the third day her tonsils would be completely covered in white and so swollen they would touch each other. This majorly affected both her eating and her speech.

May 8th was a very scary day for all of us, knowing Makena was having surgery. She, however, was really excited to have her tonsils taken out (clearly she had no idea what that meant) and was so happy that she got to go somewhere in her pj's and take the special stuffed animal Grandma took her to make at Build-A-Bear for the occasion! The image of her being carried into the operating room will forever be burned in my memory. It didn't take long until we were called back to see her. Unfortunately, the state we found her in was awful. She was screaming, fighting against everyone (including us) and trying to pull her IV out. After what seemed like an eternity....and at the point where I just thought I couldn't bare to see her like that for one more second....she finally calmed down.

The first day at home, Makena refused to talk or swallow. We had to hold towels under her chin to catch her drool and try to get her to take as many sips of water as possible. It took 2 days before she was ready to consider popsicles, pudding, ice cream.....all the fun stuff you get to enjoy when you get your tonsils out! By day 3 we could finally start to see her make some improvements and could tell each day was getting a little better. We were all excited for day 10 when the Dr said the scabs would fall off and she could go back to eating whatever she wanted. Unfortunately, Makena's scabs didn't fall off until day 17. That's A LOT of soft food meals...in case you're keeping track:) Overall, the recovery process was worse than we expected but still totally worth it. The end result is that we have a little girl who will hopefully know what it feels like to not be sick all the time!!!

Dear Makena,
Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you! Even your pediatrician and the specialists at Children's Mercy were impressed with how well you handled your sickness every month. You're a brave little girl who takes medicine better than any child we've ever seen (and definitely better than Mommy)! Thank you for making our job of taking care of you easier. There were a lot of sad, scary times but hopefully those days are behind us and you can grow up with no memories of these monthly sicknesses or getting your tonsils out. We love you so much. xoxoxo
Mommy & Daddy