The Possession of Madison Mae (or the story in which Madi gets tubes in ears and adenoids removed)

Holy Moly!  Sometimes an iron will, passionate personality and dramatic nature can really make a simple medical procedure a dreadful ordeal!  Miss Madi is a character of biblical proportions.  So we shoulda known she wouldn't take a little anesthesia laying down!  Madi Mae is a FIGHTER (someday we hope that will work to her advantage).

On Monday, March 25th, we went in to the Logan Regional Surgical Center to get tubes in Madi's ears and have her adenoids removed.  Pretty simple little, non-painful procedure.   Mama came armed and ready with all of Madi's favorites to help her be happy and stress-free before the procedure--toys, crayons, blanket, paci, ipod with Caillou cued and ready, etc. etc.  We had heard that whatever mood you take in to anesthesia is the mood you come out with, amplified.  We were so hoping she would be happy and non-nervous.  And she was...until they had to put a blasted bracelet around her ankle for identification before the anesthesiologist took her back.  She wanted that shackle OFF...NOW!  She went back and Mommy and Daddy waited nervously.  We had witnessed many children coming to and from surgery.  The routine was pretty much the same.  Horrible, sad, confused crying for about 20 minutes and then the tiny tots would fall asleep peacefully in Mommy's arms.  Shortly after, they were released to go home and all was well.

Dr. Blotter came back to tell us the procedure went perfectly.  There was a lot of fluid behind Madi's eardrums which was drained before the tubes were inserted.  No wonder all the awful ear infections...Madi would go from infected fluid to non-infected fluid but ALWAYS fluid in her poor, witto ears.  The doctor said this can feel like when you are trying to pop your ears because of pressure or what it sounds like under water...ugh!  She also had a large amount of adenoid tissue which was removed.

Then two nurses brought Madi back to us from recovery.  Oh, dear!  She was obviously not on this planet quite yet but was fighting her way with all her wee witto might, trying to regain her senses.  She was very disoriented...eyes looked colorless, ice cold and unfocused.  She was crying hysterically, begging for Mama.  She didn't seem to understand that I was holding her.  She was climbing up me, drooling all over, sad and slobbery like a rabid dog.  Even though she should have been dead tired, Madi would blurt out, "Color!  CRAYONS!  Draw picture!"  and demand her art supplies only to reject them and call out for some other unnecessary and inappropriate paraphernalia.  She was irate about the I.V. in her hand and tried her darndest to rip it out (thank heavens it was taped and wrapped).  The toe thermometer was even worse and she was heck bent on freeing her picky piggies.  She ripped it free once and our half hour of observation had to be restarted.  Our poor little dollbaby literally seemed possessed!  Mom and Dad tried to remain calm and not escalate with our crazy baby.  The nurses came and went, reassuring us that this would pass and she would calm down...nothing too out of the ordinary.  The sobbing continued.  She whimpered through two popsicles and seemed to be mellowing but regained steam and came back with a vengeance for more hysterical crying (and slobbering).  That tenacious tot cried HARD for a full hour and a half.  They tried to release us once and performed the, "can-you-walk-over-to-this-treat-table" test and she was fully capable of walking over but still wasn't ready to give up the hysterical crying so we were told we needed to stay a little longer.  "I underestimated her!" the nurse commented.  We were getting worried...and sad....and desperate at this point.  Matt and I had both been saying many silent prayers but finally decided to have Matt lay his hands on her head for a priesthood blessing.  She immediately calmed and settled in to my arms to watch a snippet of Caillou on the ipod.  Whew!  We finally got home but the rest of the day was not too much better.  Luckily, the next day Madi was back to her regular, less-demonic self, although she did come down with a blasted cold (but thanks to the tubes, it didn't settle in her ears and become an infection).

On a positive note, the pros of this great procedure far outweighed the negatives of our stressy experience.  Madi's articulation changed that very day!  Her sweet little voice sounded different to me and the way she formed her sounds had a new crispness.  She has been adjusting to the new space in her noggin now that she is adenoid-less and  she snorts, hums, babbles, sings and continues to experiment with her new ears.  We went by the temple to see the fountain and walk around the grounds (her favorite) but this time she was terrified of the roaring fountain and wouldn't get near it.  I'm sure things sound very different with her magic ears (which were already very sensitive to sound).

Madi is hilarious.  She makes everything VERY memorable.  We are very hopeful that her new magic ears will be infection-free for a good long time and that this somewhat traumatic ordeal will be well worth it!           

Pre-Op....still smilin'!

Little Tiger Tot Scrubs...how fitting for our Little Tiger Tot!

Watching Curious George on the T.V.  Still calm and cool as a cucumber (no ankle bracelet yet)!

Worried Mommy has no idea what she's in store for.

LOVE!  Wish I coulda got the pic of Madi's little cheek slippin' outta her Huggies.  Here she is coloring before the surgery. 

I should have filmed 30 seconds of the post-op, but one does not reach for one's camera in the middle of a real live possession :)