Whew! What a week. We just found out last week that Jake has “sleep apnea”. Angie took Jake for a sleep study last Monday at the sleep clinic. They had to spend the night while the doctors monitored Jake’s sleeping stats. Jake was hooked up with more wires than you could shake a stick at, but Angie said it didn’t bother him. He went to sleep within 15 minutes of laying down. That’s our Jake, he’s always the first asleep.
The sleep doctor gave us the statistics on Jake’s study and recommended the first step be to remove his large tonsils. They wasted no time on scheduling the surgery, scheduling it for Thursday. Although, it is a routine, same day surgery nowadays, Jake still had to spend the night because of his sleep apnea. (Fun for Mom!)
We had to go to Lebohneur Hospital for the surgery. A place we’re quite familiar with (Jackson’s Foot Surgeries 1998,1999 (2) and Jake Heart and Adenoids (2002,2003) and 3-4 emergency room visits. Maw-Maw, Ri-Ri and Jackson were all there for support. Of course, Jake had many gifts bestowed upon him to get through the ordeal. All the grandma’s sent magazines, baseball cards, coloring books, movies and hand held games for him to pass the time. I believe Jackson thought Jake was getting a little too much attention, and that didn’t set to well with him. These kids are just “starved for attention” ha ha.
He got to meet Benard, a small green child who is perpetually 4 years old. I have no idea what his ailment was or his prognosis, but Jake got a kick out of meeting him anyway. His mom was nice.
There was also a huge construction site outside his window. This helped Dad pass the time. There was something going on at every corner of the site. It was fun to watch.
They took him to the “bunny room” around 10 am to prepare for surgery. For those who don’t know about the “bunny room” , it’s the dropping off point for the kids going to surgery. It is also where they can pick out a toy from a wall of toys as you enter the room. It has always been a sad place for Angie and I, not only because your child is going under the knife, but for seeing all the other kids that are there with their parents, saying goodbye. Most of the kids have problems far greater than anything our children have ever been through and for that we are always thankful.
Today, was a little different. For those that know Jake, you know he has a very quirky sense of humor and it magnifies when he’s in a doctor’s office or public place. Well, let’s just say he was in rare form in the bunny room. He was definitely playing the room. From his dramatic hunger pains, to saying he was going to die in the O.R. and we’d never see him again, he was really trying his parents. The anesthesia doctor came over and asked him what flavor anesthesia he wanted. The doctor went through the list and Jake decided on Root Beer (changing from an earlier request of Watermelon). The doc replied “Well, that is a special flavor, reserved for boys and girls who mind their parents and do their chores”. Jake said dryly “Oh, well I can’t have that.” Needless to say, Angie and I said “take him back!”
The surgery went well and Dr. Chanin, the ENT, said he had Jake as clear as he could get him. Hopefully, this will help his sluggishness and attention problems during the day.
Grandma came up to the hospital and babied him a little and brought him some more treats. When he got home from the hospital Aunt Debbie, Nana and Robbie brought him two tubs of ice cream, baseball nut and chocolate. John-John was very happy!
He’s going to have a long week of recovery, hopefully it won’t be too bad. I guess I can officially say Jake “The Kid” Jones is on the DL (disabled list for you non-sports fans) for the week.
