Some surgeries are easy to recover from. A tonsillectomy isn't one of them :(

On May 23rd we took Teya and Camden in for back to back surgeries.

 (I figured Hey, if I'm going to spend a week rehabing children I might as well do them both at once!)

Teya was getting her tonsils and adenoids removed.

Cam was getting his adenoids removed and ear tubes put it.

Cam went first and came out with no problems. Just a little sleepy angel.

He went right back to sucking his thumb and snuggling blankey.

 Teya came out next but instead of sleepy angel she was more like a wild crazy person. I really don't know a better way to describe it. She just couldnt' handle the way the drugs made her feel and was screeching and flailing around, spasming, crying, and saying crazy things. Luckily Daddy was there to comfort her.

Her tonsils were huge, the right one was the size of a golf ball.  It was so big the doctor actually took a picture and gave it to us. I'm posting it so it can go in the blog book but just a warning, the following image is not for the faint of heart...

 Blech!

 The next day Cam was back to his normal self, king of the house as usual. 

Teya on the other hand was just a pathetic little ball of misery. Every time her drugs got close to wearing off she just cried and cried. She couldn't hardly eat a thing and she could barely talk because it hurt so bad.

 she started writing notes when she needed things. It was so sad.

A week later she was still crying every time the drugs wore off. Her ears hurt really really bad (residual pain from the surgery) And she woke up screaming almost every night. It was the worst and saddest thing I've ever seen her go through. 

Finally after about 10 days, she was back to her old smiley self, without drugs. It was a tough tough surgery to recover from, but I've heard it's actually worse when you're an adult, so I'm glad she did it now instead of later. 

As hard as it was, I've noticed that it really has helped her be more empathetic when people are sick or suffering. We've had friends and relatives get sick and go to the hospital and her concern for them is so much deeper now that she knows what it's like to really hurt. 

One of the sweetest moments with her newfound empathy was on the Sunday after her surgery, she was still too fragile to go to church so we stayed home and watched The Testaments. During the scene where the Savior is crucified I looked over at her and saw tears streaming down her face. Through her tears she quietly whispered, "poor Jesus." I think it was the first time she internalized how much he suffered for us, and it was sweet to see how it touched her tender little heart. 

Surgery isn't fun, but Cam and Teya were troopers and hopefully we won't be dealing with any more surgeries for a long long time, preferably never again :)