Friday 23 March 2012

12

Putting 'Pardon?' to bed

incognito

After eight months of telling everyone with a medical degree (or medical training, or people who might know people who have medical training) that Jamie can't hear again we were finally vindicated a couple of weeks ago when Jamie bombed his hearing tests. We're talking not even in mild hearing loss levels, but moderate. I told you so, doctors; there are many things I am a fantasist about but not glaringly obvious medical problems. Due to the amount of time we've been chasing this, the support of his teacher in agreeing it is a major problem, the fact that he had this operation before, and the poor hearing test we were fast-tracked straight onto the waiting list for an operation*. It was supposed to happen by the end of May, but a call came today that there was a cancellation and he's having it on Monday! At the very least it's a double-grommet insertion but it could quite possibly be another adenoidectomy as they suspect his have grown back out of spite.

The last time Jamie had this operation (please click through if you haven't read it because the immediate difference for him was so poignant and profound) almost exactly two years ago he was only four. But it turns out he remembers it vividly and he's pretty scared about the general anaesthetic. It's heart-aching to hear him describe the smell and the taste of the gas and how he woke up without me there (he was sobbing and clinging like a limpet to a random nurse when I was brought through), but this is going to make his life so much better. And ours too. Wish him strength and bravery.

*When I say fast-tracked, I mean that he didn't have to jump through additional hoops pre-op. Normally you need three failed tests in a row before they operate, which is what happened to us last time.

12 comments:

  1. oh the love. Hope it all goes well for him (and you)

    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. awww that has actually made me cry a little - so very hard to put him through it but oh so so SO worth it - chin up Jamie and you of course - lots of love to you all x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! Good luck for Monday. Your son's story reminded me of my son asking me what that noise was one day shortly after his op (grommets, tonsils, adenoids). Turned out he'd never heard the sound of rain before & he liked it. Sob. Hopefully this second op will make an equally dramatic ddifferences or Jamie :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I will be sending Jamie (and you) the best possible vibes on Monday. I'm sorry he feels frightened- general anesthesia feels scary for an adult, so it's totally understandable that the little guys are freaked by it. Do they let you come back really quickly once he is in recovery?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good luck all of you, will be thinking of you on Monday x

    ReplyDelete
  6. All the best wishes for monday and the days that follow!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We will be thinking good thoughts for Jamie! Good luck.

    Darcey

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very best of luck xxx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Amanda, wishing you And your family lots of pray and positive energy...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thinking of you guys and sending all the positive vibes I can generate from here. Good luck for Monday. x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Aw poor boy, sucks that he has poor memories of it! I remember being put under general anaesthetic when I was around that age too. The biggest thing I remember is that I woke up right pissed off because I'd been told to count to ten and I hadn't finished before I conked out. And I remember I'd been promised all the popsicles and ice cream and jello I could eat afterwards. But it was a tonsil/adenoid removal so I wasn't up to eating that stuff so I was pretty ticked about that, too. I guess I was kind of an angry child.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Brilliant news, I will be sending him non-yucky taste vibes tomorrow. I hope they let you come into recovery before he wakes up this time. I can remember coming out of a general after my apendectomy howling for my Dad - it seems to tap into your primal self.

    ReplyDelete