A Rough Day for Sophie (mashed potatoes)

Yesterday Sophie had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She also had her birth mark taken off her face.

We, along with her ENT decided that it was best to go ahead and get rid of the tonsils because of her on-again, off-again relationship with Strep Throat. Her ENT also suggested that we remove her birthmark (on the left side of her face) because it might turn into something more dangerous when she got older. She has never mentioned wanting the birthmark removed, but we figured when she got older she probably would. Michael and I thought we would just leave it up to her. But when the Dr told us it would prevent future problems, we decided to do it while she was out with the tonsils.

This is Michael and Sophie in the waiting room. She got a "Sunshine Gift" from Meme, her great-grandmother. It was full of books and writing supplies. Sophie was excited and she was already working on a story. The first line she wrote was "One day I went to the hospital." Then they called us back.

Sophie put on her gown and the nurse brought her a Dr Wellbee stuffed animal. She had already brought her puppy and favorite blanket from home. She is pretty much feeling like a movie star in this picture. My mom and dad came in shortly after and brought her a bag full of Crafts. Her eyes lit up looking through that bag of goodies. After we talked to the Dr and the anesthesiologist, the nurse came in and asked Sophie a lot of questions and strapped all kinds of things to her. We joked and laughed about Sophie's disposition. She was so confident and happy. She didn't seem nervous at all. We gave her lots of hugs and kisses and the nurse wheeled her off to the O.R. As they wheeled her off, she was sitting strait up in her bed just looking around and smiling.

We all went back out to the waiting room during the surgery. The doctor would come out to see us when they were done. It was almost an hour later when they called us back and told us the Dr was about to come to see us. He said everything went fine. Michael and I then went up to her room to wait for her there. It was a VERY long time before they wheeled her up. Apparently, it took her a while to come out of her deep sleep. When she came up to the room, she was still very disoriented and upset. My mom and dad and Michael's dad came up to visit her but didn't stay long so she could rest. She drank a little water and after a while she went back to sleep.

She slept for about 2 hours and then opened her eyes and said "Was I asleep?" She started drinking water and watching TV. She wasn't very happy, but she wasn't upset either. Her favorite show, "I-Carly" was on and she enjoyed watching that. Pretty soon she started asking to put her shirt back on, for her IV to be removed and she wanted to go home. Her pain medicine was a little hard to swallow, but after that she got up, went to the bathroom and walked around in the hall. So, the nurse started getting us ready to go home.

Of course they wheeled Sophie out of the hospital in a wheel-chair and she loved that. She asked me if she was going to have to use the wheel chair when she got home.

We got home at about 3:00. Sophie was very hungry because she hadn't eaten since the night before. She ate a few bites of mashed potatoes, that I had already made in preparation of her soft foods diet. But what she really wanted was some CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!

After the mashed potatoes and ice cream Sophie took another long nap. Michael stayed outside with Bo and Reed so Sophie could rest. The worst part of the whole thing came a few hours later when the nausea kicked in. She really wasn't able to hold anything down, but she was still drinking a lot of water, so I didn't worry too much about it. She got out all of her goodies from her Nana and Papa and Meme and started looking through them, but was only up for about 20 minutes before getting too tired then she climbed back in bed. At about 10:30 she was hungry again so I made her some macaroni and cheese and she ate a big bowl of that.

Now, I am still reeling from a night of not-so-much sleep (could be the reason this blog is a little "wordy.") Sophie woke up with a fever and she got sick again at about 4:30. Got her calmed down and she went back to sleep until about 6:30. She woke up asking for scrambled eggs. So after eating a few bites of her eggs and drinking some water, she went back to sleep and is still on the sofa asleep. I hope she is able to rest today.

Michael is at Bo's baseball tournament in Peachtree City. He took Reed with him so I can concentrate on taking care of Sophie.

I'll post again soon with an update on Sophie.

If you don't know how to make good mashed potatoes, here's my recipe. It's very easy.

Mashed Potatoes (not low-fat)

10 med. Potatoes

1 stick of Butter

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1 cup Half n Half or Milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Place them in boiling water until they are well done. Drain and add butter. Using a hand mixer, mash the potatoes and add the rest of the ingredients. The measurements of each ingredient can be adjusted according to your taste. This recipe will make a big bowl full of potatoes.