Elsa Snores No More. We Hope.

Elsa has ALWAYS been a loud breather, and a snorer.  I cannot count the number of times I have looked in the backseat at her, while driving, to see if she is asleep, because I can hear her breathing from all the way back there!  And inevitably, she is wide awake.  She just breathes that loud.

My pediatrician referred us to an ENT.  He took a look at Elsa's adenoids and declared that they were blocking 85% of her nasal passage.  No wonder she still breathes through her mouth!  We decided to have them removed.
I took these pictures of my "precious sleeping angels" the night before Elsa's surgery.

We took Elsa to Primary Children's Medical Center.  Everyone at that hospital is so wonderful.  Elsa must have awful veins, just like me, because I noticed that they had to poke her 4 times before they found a place to put her IV in.  I really wanted Elsa's doctor to remove her tonsils, while he was at it.  But he wouldn't do it.  He said that the tonsils are a riskier surgery than an adenoidectomy.  When he told me that, all I could think was, "yeah, I've heard that deaths from tonsilectomy's are on the rise. Not."

In the end he left her tonsil's in, and I am hoping I don't end up regretting not pushing for him to remove them as well.  Elsa didn't do too well in recovery.  When they first let me back to see her she was crying and thrashing around in her bed.  I tried to comfort her, but nothin' doin'.  Her eyes were open, and she was looking at me, but it was like she didn't see me.  Orange snot was running down her nose, and she was still hooked to her IV, heart and oxygen monitors.  I managed to pick her up, and I held her.  But it didn't calm her down.  She was like that for a long time.  They gave her some medication and she fell asleep in my arms.  She slept for a long time.  When she finally woke up she was a lot better.

By the next day, you never would  have known she had just had surgery.  The only telltale sign is her stinky breath.  They warned me that it would be gross for up to a month after surgery.  I don't know how to even begin to describe it?!  It smells like dirty diapers.  But it will go away, and I am hoping the end result is that Elsa is finally able to breathe out of her nose.

A little nitty gritty: I vacillate between only mildly hating living in Utah, and despising it.  Lately, with the Arctic temperatures and weather being what it is; I have held my home-state in utter contempt.  There have been so many mornings I have awoken and though that we ought to put a for-sale sign in front of our house.

Inevitably, when I feel this way something happens to make me appreciate where we live.

This time, it was all about being surrounded by caring people.  On the Wednesday before Elsa's surgery Cohen started climbing some stairs, and he fell down.  He was acting like his leg was in pain.  I decided to give him 24 hours, before I took him to have it looked at, to see if it got better.

It didn't.

So, I called our pediatrician on Thursday, to see if I could bring Cohen in.  Our pediatrician's office is in downtown Salt Lake City.  And he had an opening at 4:15PM.

My next-door-neighbor, Bev agreed to watch Reagan and Elsa while I was gone.  When I left the weather was snowy.  I was late to the appointment, because of the road conditions.  But Dr. Swensen, our pediatrician/patron saint was waiting for me at his office (I was his last appointment of the day).  He wrote me orders to have Cohen's leg x-rayed at Primary Children's Hospital; but told me that I could wait until the next day, if I wanted to avoid driving any more in the worsening weather.

I figured I was only a few miles away, and I have a 4WD vehicle.... So, I told Dr. Swensen I'd head up directly.

Dr. Swensen told me that he'd follow me up.

I told him that it wasn't necessary.

But he followed me anyway.

He looked at Cohen's x-ray and said he couldn't see a fracture.

We left the hospital, and the roads were worse.  Times Ten!

It was a nightmare.  The winter storm was a whopper!

While all of this had been playing out, I had spoke to Bev, and she told me that she had become suddenly, and violently ill.  I didn't want her to have to keep watching the girls if she was feeling bad; so I talked to Nick's brother, Nate, and he agreed to drive from his work in Murray, UT; to our house to pick up Reagan and Elsa.

I cannot remember driving in worse conditions.  And I've done my fair share of white-knuckle driving.

All the while, I was on the phone trying to coordinate child-care for the girls.  Nick was at work, and didn't get off until 10PM (I forgot to mention that part).  Nate left his work long before I left the hospital ; and was making slower time than I was.

I ended up calling my good friend, and neighbor: Kelli.  Of course, she was happy to babysit Reagan and Elsa.

When I walked in my front door, THREE HOURS after I left the hospital, Kelli was there playing with my children, and had also done my dishes, and cleaned my house!  What a good friend!

I made it to my house before Nate did.  The poor guy spent 4+ hours in his car, and never even made it to our house!  What a good person.

And then, as I was putting the kids in bed, my phone rang.  It was Dr. Swensen calling me to make sure I had made it home safely.

A few days after the blizzard was Elsa's surgery.  The original plan had been to have my sister, Heather, watch Reagan, and Cohen; while Nick and I were at the hospital with Elsa.  Then, the hospital called and told me that Elsa needed to be at the hospital at 7AM.  The logistics of getting two of my kids to Heather's house, and then making it in to the city by 7:00 was daunting.

I mentioned this, in passing, to one of my new neighbors; Jennifer.  We've only had a handful of interactions since she moved in.  But without hesitating, she volunteered to watch my kids.  I took her up on the offer, and we dropped Reagan and Cohen off at her house at 6AM.  How wonderful it was of her to be that gracious.

Heather got Lance off to school, and then came and picked up Reagan and Cohen from Jennifer's house.

My neighborhood, and neighbors can't be beat.  If I have to live in a place that I am less-than-thrilled about, at least I am surrounded by good people.

I've stopped fantasizing about moving.  At least, for now.