Surgery

Nathan had his ear surgery today. It is actually a kind of a miricle it happened.

Backstory- Our kids are losing their health insurance coverage on Dec. 31. We have been trying to get this surgery taken care of for months, but the medical red tape was causing problems. I went to my district office to get the boys added to my insurance and they won't cover them for 90 days because open enrollment had ended. We have argued with them about the fairness of this policy, but I work for a government entity. So we had to get this surgery done NOW or pay of of pocket ($3000). On Monday, our pediatrician called the ENTs office repeatedly and Ken called, but all we got was voice mail. so Ken loaded up the kids and took them downtown to pay the ENT a visit in person. He pleaded and begged and got the surgery scheduled for today. We were ecstatic. This is the best Christmas present ever.

Then the nurse called yesterday. She asked about his current health (sick as usual). Then she said they probably won't do the surgery because he had severe wheezing which requires mmultiple breathing medications and has a double ear infection. It felt like we had been slapped in the face. Our pediatrician gave him an antibiotic shot to try to speed up his recovery, but she said it was not likely to work. We were devastated. He already has hearing loss and further damage due to his infection could make the loss permanent. Kenny gave Nathan a blessing last night. I instantly felt calm and reassured that things would go well.

Nathans lungs improved dramatically over night. I have never seen him recover like this. We went in this morning and the doctor said he had a little wheezing in his left lung, but she was confident things would be fine.

We got up at 4:30 this morning (Kenny slept over at Eppie's) and headed downtown to the children's hospital. The hospital is amazing and we had a great experience. When it was time for him to go, they wheeled him off in a Radio Flyer wagon instead of a gurney. When the ENT came out he said the his ears "had A LOT of liquid. It was thick. More like pus." We took him home and he has been so happy and talking up a storm all night. He has never had clear ears. Even when he doesn't have n infection , his ears are full of liquid. He's hearing the world like he has never heard it before!

We are so happy to have him doing well. All he needs is Tylenol to manage the pain. And the best part...we can still take our trip to Utah this Friday!!