Post-Surgery Changes

I mentioned previously that this was a life-changing procedure for Stephen, and therefore for our entire family. The change can be summed up in one statement: Stephen smiles. Prior to having his tonsils and adenoids removed, Stephen was kind of a frown-y little guy. Now he just walks around with a smile on his face almost all the time. He is more outgoing, and more loving towards people other than his parents. It's really fantastic!



Sleep has improved as well. If he wakes during the night, it seems to be because he's had a nightmare, or in the case of the last night, there is a terrifically loud thunderstorm going on. He still takes a while to go to sleep, both at night and nap time, but I attribute this to him needing to just change his habits a bit. He was so used to fighting sleep because he had trouble breathing before, so I think it is just a new thing he'll have to get used to. All three of us, however, are appreciating better sleep.



Stephen can hear better too, and is talking a bit more. His speech therapist feels that Stephen is aware that he SHOULD be talking, but is self-conscious about it. He will talk quite a bit (and it is all developmentally appropriate phrasing and conversational) when he isn't thinking about the fact that he is talking, usually when Stephen is either having a really good time, or really angry. He is starting to talk a bit more outside of those situations too, but just at home with us. Hopefully he'll come out of his talking shell a bit more when he goes to school next month.

Reading... as you may have noticed from the Tucson post, there were a few pictures where Stephen was reading with someone. That is his new favorite thing - bringing books to people to read to him. He will do it all day long. Our theory is that now he can actually HEAR the stories clearly to see how they go with the pictures in the books, because previously, getting him to sit for even a short book (except of course, for "The Going To Bed Book.") was a chore.

I think that's it. Stephen is really like a happier version of his previous self, and we couldn't be more thrilled. The first week of recovery was really rough, I won't lie. But it was soooo worth it!