Our long, miserable week.

This has been one of the longest weeks of my life. Alex got his tonsils out last Thursay and it has been an absolut nightmare!

It all started when we got him home from the hospital and tried to give him his first dose of pain medicine. He fought me so hard that he literally passed out. He turned blue and everything.....SO SCARY!!! I thought something terrible had gone wrong with the surgery or the anesthesia or something. I was so worried, I talked to the nurse and she told me to call if it happened again. Thankfully, it has not happened again. He gets so mad because the medicine tastes so nasty. I'm sure it also burns like crazy going down his raw little throat. I can't blame the poor kid. We had it flavored and everything, but I swear that just made it worse. Hello, you'd think they would make liquid medicine taste better because the majority of people taking it are kids!?! SO DUMB! Anyway, for the past nine days, every four hours, I have had to battle our two year old son, who has a bad temper anyway, to get him to take his medicine. I've tried everything I can think of to make it easier on the poor kid, and myself! I've mixed it in drinks, tried giving him plain Tylenol (that didn't work well enough for his pain, and after a few cooperative doses, he decided he wasn't going to do that either), I've tried every medicine dispenser on the planet, tried dipping the syringe in sugar first, you name it I've tried it. I even tried to hide some chewable Tylenol pills inside his easter eggs on Sunday. He couldn't be fooled. Finally, I've come to the conclusion that I just have to force it down him. It is so awful, I seriously get a horrible feeling of anxiety when I know it is time for his next dose. I can't count how many times I've had medicine spit all over me or all over the floor. If I pin his head back, then he just chokes on it and coughs it all over me. Thankfully, it isn't red so it hasn't stained anything. I keep thinking that he won't need it soon, but whenever it wears off, he is in so much pain that he just lays on my shoulder crying and saying "hurt". It breaks my heart. The doctor said that it usually takes about two weeks to recover, I thought he was exaggerating. I also thought that, Alex, being so little would recover faster. We have not been so lucky.

The other thing that has been difficult is trying to keep him hydrated. His throat is so sore that he doesn't want to eat or drink much, and he isn't too fond of popscicles either. I am constantly offering him a variety of different liquids just trying to find something he likes at the moment. The other morning he drank Root Beer for breakfast. I was pleased as punch! I figure Root Beer for breakfast is better than nothing at all.

This whole thing has been totally exhausting and stressful for me. I am so ready for him to be better, I'm sure he feels the same way.....poor baby. If I could give any advice about this surgery, it would be to wait until your child is old enough to understand that the medicine makes them feel better, or until they are old enough to bribe! Did I mention I have to give him Amoxicillan twice a day too?!? I am going to need a vacation after this!