After having strep throat 7 times in 6 months, Dr. Cochran said Ally needed to see an ENT.  He referred us to Dr. Detweiler.  Dr. Detweiler was great.  He said when they look at tonsils, they can by in different stages between 0 and 5 (5 being the worst).  Well, Ally’s never goes down.  They stay around 2 or worse.  They usually take out tonsils if the child has strep more than 6 times in a year.  Ally was on your way to double that!  So, we set up an appointment to get her tonsils and adenoids out on June 1^st after school was out.  Ally was actually excited since everyone kept telling her she’d get lots of ice cream.  I was worried.  She doesn’t eat as it is so I didn’t know what to expect.  Dr. D said he wanted her to eat everything she could after the surgery to help keep the scabs from forming.  He also said days 5-9 would probably be the worst because that’s when the anesthesia starts to wear off completely and the scabs start.  Jeff and I took her that morning to the Surgery Center.  I think she was a little nervous but was good.  When they called her back, we went to a little triage type room with a recliner.  She changed into a gown and socks.  The anesthesiologist came to talk to us.  She was super nice and tried to ease all of Ally’s worries.  Dr. D came in and talked to us too.  They finally came to get her and we went to the waiting room.  I swear there were 10 other kids there getting their tonsils out at the same time!!  We were only in the waiting room 15 minutes when Dr. D came out and said she did great and also handed me a cup with her top front tooth inside!  It was loose so they pulled it to avoid knocking it out and her swallowing it.  After anyone 15 minutes or so, they said we could go back and see her.  As we walked through the door, she was waking up in the bed they wheeled her in on.  She saw us and began to sob.  It was so sad.  They put us in a little room with a TV and a recliner.  I sat in the recliner and she sat on the my lap.  She just cried and cried.  She wouldn’t swallow or talk for a while…it was heartbreaking.  Jeff left to go back to work and that upset her so I called Lori and she came to visit with gifts (a pink headband and pink bracelets).  That helped a bit! J  They kept encouraging her to drink and eat.  At first she wouldn’t.  She had an IV so they gave her some more meds.  After those kicked in a bit, they gave her some Ibuprofen.  They told her she couldn’t leave until she ate something.  She finally perked up a little and ate a cup of chocolate pudding and drank some Sprite.  She was even smiling and laughing at herself in the mirror with her front tooth missing!  Right around noon, we got to leave.  We headed to CVS to get her pain meds and then headed to pick up Jack and Abby.  By 12:30, we were home.  Just 3.5 hours from surgery to home!!  At home, she took Ibuprofen or Lortab every 2 hours and did really well.  She watched a movie when she got home but ate lunch and then even at one point went outside!  I was shocked.  Jack had a game Saturday and she went to that.  She seemed to be doing great.  They had told us that days 5-9 would be the worst.  Around day 5, she started throwing up.  She was miserable.  I called and they said they didn’t want that pressure on her throat so we had to give her an enema…that didn’t go well.  She went through some ear pain and sore throat during those day…missing a couple days of VBS.  But, on day 9, she didn’t get any medicine all day and she was done.  All-in-all, she did great…a lot better than I thought she’d do.  She was a trooper!!