Health + Wellness

What to Expect When Your Child Gets Tubes

May 19, 2015

A few months ago, my youngest daughter’s pediatrician recommended that she see an ENT to determine whether her speech issues were being caused by her hearing. Several tests indicated she had pressure in her ears affecting her hearing, and the ENT recommended that she get tubes. I reacted in a calm and rational way that definitely did NOT involve bursting into tears in front of the doctor and asking if there were any way to avoid surgery (just kidding—I immediately did both). Here we are, a few hours post-surgery, and things most definitely did not go as I anticipated. If tubes were recommended for your kiddo, here is what you can expect.

Before the Surgery
We had to arrive at the outpatient surgery clinic 90 minutes before the surgery time, so for us, this meant 6:00 A.M. Because it was so early, we left Sadie in her nightie. This turned out to be a good thing because she was able to stay in it throughout surgery and recovery. After filling out paperwork and checking her vitals, we sat and waited for a long time. I made the mistake of not packing anything for Sadie to do because I didn’t anticipate sitting around for so long. A nurse was kind enough to give us Crayons and coloring pages. I’d definitely recommend packing something quiet to do: coloring books, Crayons, books, even an iPad with some movies would be great.

Eventually we spoke to the anesthesiologist and our ENT surgeon, both of whom told us exactly what to expect after the surgery. The anesthesiologist ordered a mild sedative for Sadie to take before she went to the operating room, which was described to me as either “goofy juice” or “kind of like Valium.” I can’t tell you what it actually does, because Sadie spit it out as soon as the nurse put it in her mouth, crying that it tasted like soap.

Because Sadie is only four years old, the anesthesiologist picked her up and carried her to the OR instead of wheeling her back on a stretcher. She cried and reached for me on the walk back, and my heart broke into a million tiny pieces. The doctor assured me that although it was sad for me to watch her cry, it was actually good because she’d inhale the anesthesia faster.

During the Surgery
After I finished crying, my husband and I were escorted to the waiting room. Five minutes later (no exaggeration), the surgeon came out to tell us they were all done. She used a bunch of surgical terms I don’t understand, but essentially everything went well. We were brought back to the recovery room, where Sadie was sleeping off the anesthetic. We were told she had wet her pants during the surgery, which is apparently common. I didn’t know that and hadn’t packed a change of underpants. I’d definitely recommend packing an entire change of clothes, since Sadie’s nightie had some pee on it too.

Our souveniers-her anesthesia mask and hospital bracelet. — Our souvenirs: Sadie’s anesthesia mask and hospital bracelet

After the Surgery
Sadie woke up after about 15 minutes. We were told that kids are often either confused or angry after they wake up, and Sadie was both. She coughed and gagged for a few minutes and then hated everything: the blanket on her legs, the pulse-oxygen meter on her finger, her lack of underpants, me, the nurse, and the emesis basin I kept trying to put in front of her, thinking she’d throw up. She didn’t remember anything about the surgery and instead reminded me that her medicine tasted like soap. Eventually she calmed down enough to eat a freeze pop (after sobbing that they didn’t have a blue one), and an hour after the surgery, we were allowed to take her home! From the time we checked in to the time we checked out, we were there three hours (and the surgery itself took five minutes). We’ve spent the rest of the day at home watching movies and eating easily digested foods.