Cooper's Ear Surgery

On Friday, July 18th, Cooper had tubes put in his ears at Newton Medical Center in Covington.  He has had over 7 ear infections in the past five months alone so his pediatrician, the ENT specialist and I all agreed that tubes might be the best thing to do for him before cold and flu season starts up again.  Also, when we went to the ENT for our initial consultation, the doctor was a little concerned about his pressure tests that they performed in each ear.  The pressure in his ears was not what it should be and said that tubes would help to fix that.  I explained to him that Cooper was still not walking very well but that his Physical Therapist had dismissed him from therapy as she said that he had the ability to walk but that he was just lazy and that it would come in time.  I have been more than a little concerned as he is now 19 months old and was not walking very well.  He said that tubes may help this but that it was uncertain and for me not to get my hopes up.  We had to be at the hospital at 6:00 that morning but his surgery wasn't until 8:00.  He did very well I must say and was only a little fussy when he got out of surgery.  They gave him some liquid Verced (pardon the spelling if it's not right) before he went back so that he wouldn't be so upset that he was leaving mommy and daddy.  We got to go back into the pre-op holding room with him which was something that we didn't get to do at Rockdale when the other boys had their tubes put in.  While we were waiting for them to take him back, the medicine kicked in and he was too funny!  The nurses were just eating him up and the doctors couldn't believe what a show he was putting on.  He would yell "Hey" to everyone and was facinated by the swinging doors that led to the Operating Rooms.  He would blow kisses and wave bye bye to the nurses and would sing his ABC'S (we only go to D right now) at the top of his lungs, only he looked like a little drunk man doing it. He had hiccups so he would sing A-B-C and then hiccup each time.  It didn't help matters that the medicine made his balance a little off so he would stumble all around the crib he was in and would even fall down some.  It was a riot!!  He called his Stu-Stu and Ross from the makeshift phone he made with his hand and played peek-a-boo with everyone.  I'm telling you, it was quite a show!  The surgery was a success and his pressure is normal again.  I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or not but that night after his surgery we went to eat at Longhorn.  Cooper got a little anxious waiting for his food so he and I went outside while daddy waited on them to bring everything to us.  While we were outside, he started walking.  He took at least 8 steps before he fell down (a huge accomplishment and much more progress than the 2-3 steps he had been taking).  He did this several more times that night and I watched as tears streamed down my face.  He is now walking all over the place.  While he is still a little unsteady at times, it is the most beautiful sight my eyes have seen since the day that he was born!

Cooper loved hiding in the end table while we were waiting to go to the Pre-Op room

Am I cute in my hospital gown or what?

Cooper and his Lovie Bunny get ready to go to Pre-Op

Where are we going?

Cooper loved riding on the elevator to the Pre-Op floor

Cooper playing peek-a-boo with some of the nurses-his medicine 

had started to kick in by this time!

Here he is during one of his performances of the A-B-C song.  Notice how his eyes look a little glassy and that he is holding on to keep from falling!