My Kid is a Damn Nutter

[Clodfobble]

Our nightmare summer from hell is almost over: we are back on the surgery schedule for a tonsillectomy. And when I say nightmare from hell I really mean it: at his very worst--i.e., about 4 weeks spanning July and August--we were experiencing roughly 5 tantrums a day, each about 30 minutes. The level of aggression during these meant that my only option was to lay with him on the bed, restraining him in a hug until he calmed down again. Meanwhile, my 2-year-old daughter basically gets to sit there and watch her mother pin her screaming brother to the bed. I'm sure that's been fantastic for her emotional development as well.

This whole time, his bad days and worse days have been directly correlated to the size of his tonsils. He tells me every single day that his throat hurts, and that he wants to go back to the hospital. He then reiterates all the details that he remembers from the last time he went to the hospital for the adenoidectomy--the pajamas he wore, the nurses he saw, the toys in the waiting room, the hospital pajamas, the oral medication, the IV, the special mask... and the feeling better. Today he basically promised me in broken phrases that if I would let him have another IV, he would be calm and not fuss at all.

But today we finally saw our new doctor, who gets it. We have (yet another) antibiotic prescription for symptom relief until the surgery on the 15th. In addition, she has ordered x-rays for his sinuses, because she suspects that a chronic sinus infection is actually what keeps re-seeding his tonsils after every round of antibiotics. If the x-rays confirm that, she will also do a sinus wash during the surgery, which involves (highlight for grossness) sucking all the pus out of his sinuses with a giant needle, then flushing them with an antibiotic fluid.

This woman is my hero. I almost started crying in her office when she dismissively said, "Of course I believe you. We're going to help him."