Elliot's home from the hospital now:  tonsils and adenoids removed, small ear tubes inserted.  Medically-speaking, everything went very well; and we are certainly glad for that.

Still, it's been surprising to see how brutal the process was and is.

The last time Elliot had tubes put in his ears (yes, this is the second time that this particular procedure has been performed on my son), he practically bounced out of bed as soon as the anesthesia wore off.  Some of the other kids who had been brought in for pediatric Ear-Nose-Throat surgery at the time woke up groaning or screaming or vomiting blood, but our Elliot was bright as a button -- perhaps because the procedure to place the tubes was not as difficult or as painful for the patient.  But this time, Elliot was one of the "other kids."  He not only had the tubes put in his ears again, but he also had his tonsils and adenoids removed -- and this time, while the other kids seemed to recover relatively quickly, heading home by 10:00 or 11:00, our boy had a much harder go of things, and we didn't get home from the hospital until about one thirty in the afternoon...

When I came into the recovery room, just as Elliot was waking up, the situation was not pretty.  He had blood around his ears and mouth, down his neck, and still coming out of his nose.  A patch of hair above the right side of his forehead was caked with drying blood.  The nurse was working to clean him up, just as he was regaining consciousness.  He was disoriented and panicked.  And then he noticed the pain in his throat.  His throat hurt so much that they eventually had to give him, not one, but two hits of powerful pain-killers to get him to settle down (this is ultimately what kept us at the hospital longer than the other kids).  The nurses kept encouraging him to keep drinking the lemonade that they brought for him -- which Elliot hated, as it stung his throat -- but eventually, Elliot was stable enough to return to the regular hospital room.  His throat pain has remained pretty bad ever since then, but he eventually sucked down four popsicles and was discharged to come home and complete his recovery.

So that's the story up to this point.  We're glad that the much-anticipated surgery is finally over.  We have a few pictures -- and a lot of pain -- by which to remember the occasion.  But hopefully it will get a little better every day from here on out.