Ears that hear!

Yesterday Annalina had tubes put in her ears. It was a quick surgery, but was scheduled very early in the morning. We got there at 6:30 and were taken to a small room. On the gurney was a purple teddy bear! Annalina was very happy, but to add to her joy, there was a small television on a swing arm and she was able to watch the end of Mister Rogers and then part of Curious George, a favorite in our home. She had a very sweet nurse who was very kind to her and offered her half the banana she brought (after surgery) when she heard that Annalina loves bananas. Next we met her anesthesiologist, another kind woman and she learned how she would be going to sleep, practiced breathing through the mask, etc. Dr Thiringer came in to visit and before long she was taken back for the procedure. About a half an hour later the Dr came back out and said it went well. He told us that Annalina was laughing and talking to everyone she saw and was a regular Chatty Cathy! No surprise there! One of her ear canals was very inflamed so she will be getting drops regularly for a week to help clear that up. The nurse took us back to recovery where Annalina was laying in a little ball on the bed sobbing! It was heartbreaking, but the nurse assured us this is a typical response of children waking up from the anesthesia. After about 10 minutes of crying she said, "I told you I didn't want to come here Mom". ::sigh:: As it turned out, she was not feeling up to eating and didn't share the nurses' banana after all! They let us leave shortly after that. We got her home and in bed and I watched a movie with her. She perked up after Grandpa came by with some ice cream and by the time Megan and her kids stopped by around 3pm to check in, she was feeling her usual self again! She is a little sensitive to really loud noises, but she can hear again! For the first time in 5 months she asked me to turn the tv DOWN, because it was too loud! I am so grateful everything went well and that Annalina is doing so well!!