Quinn Ear Op Update

CT Scan before surgery on Thursday morning.

After surgery and a 2-hour nap to get through the first round of pain.... doing much better already.

Quinn was MUCH better after a nap. Griffin* and I went back to see him at 7pm he was still sleeping. We waited until 8 before waking him up. When he woke up he was far more lucid and clearly had less pain. They were able to give him some pain killers shortly after when he started hurting again and that helped a lot. He was not able or wanting to eat because opening his mouth and chewing hurts too much. (He is still only willing to try liquids and soup etc.) We left him at about 9:30pm as he was sleepy and I needed to get G home to bed. Quinn wanted me to stay with him, but I had to come back home with Griff. I wish I could have stayed! (Being a single mom has its tough moments).

I went back before 8am on Friday. He was sitting up and smiling at the nurses when I got there. He'd been up and had dug out some of the sweeties in his bag and eaten them despite the discomfort. A good sign!

He was also cheerful and full of stories about various life insurance packages I can buy. Thanks to an infomercial he watched. *rolls eyes* This child remembers every detail! :) Dr R met us a few minutes later while I was joking with Quinn about whether he still had an ear under the bandage, and that he looks like Van Gogh etc.

Dr R removed the pressure bandage, but then put another lighter one on because he is quite swollen and has a lot of fluid buildup and seepage.

We were discharged during the morning. Thanks to the pain meds working almost too well, he said he felt fine and could go straight back to school! I think he wanted to go to his school so his friends could see his 'war wounds' ;) So we popped in to say hello to the class for 5 mins. He started getting a bit dizzy (lack of food most likely) so we didn't linger. But the class were so sweet and concerned and all gave him earnest pats on the back and wished him well. He was given a piece of cake by one boy too. (Later Griffin came home with a wad of cards the class had all made for him!).

After that we went home and I installed him on the couch where he could watch movies and play computer games. He mostly 'feels' fine physically. Just a bit unbalanced, dizzy and sensitive. He can't turn his neck much, hear much or chew, yawn etc.

After about 2-3 hours he told me he was 'bored'. Ironic considering he is always moaning when I try to tear him away from the PC usually. Turns out it's only fun when you are competing for a turn and showing off your skills to someone else then...?  ;)

In the afternoon the neighbour came over the play PC games with him and then he was happy.

He has to keep his head bandage on for another few days to control the fluid leakage. The doctor told us the surgery he had and recuperation required is about equivalent to a car accident head trauma. So calm quiet week-end to follow by order.

He is on strict orders to rest and take it easy now after being a bit too gung-ho yesterday with the little outings. I also took him out again when we collected G from cubs.We bumped into his doctor (awesome guy) there. Remember we met him through cubs in the first place. I saw that he looked pretty worried when Quinn complained that his ear was leaking a lot.

He phoned me later and told me he was concerned about the volume of leakage and feared that he may have CSF (brain fluid) leaking out his ear which could/would cause meningitis. Not something to mess with...So we are taking things much slower now and just resting at home. As we are supposed to!

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* I thought it was very sweet that even when Q was in agony and struggling to cope, when I asked him if I should come back alone or bring G with me he immediately said he wanted his brother there. When G was given the choice of staying with the neighbour where he was playing and watching a movie or come with me, HE immediately chose to come be with me and his brother. *sniff*