Thomas in Tonsilland

This morning Thomas had his tonsils taken out at a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. He also had his adenoids removed, his sinuses and inner ears cleared out, and tubes (or gromets) put in his ears which will fall out in 6-12 months. The doctor said his tonsils were huge. Either way, Sarah reported that everything went well.

She said he did a good job and the toughest parts were the anesthesia and after the operation when he woke up. Sarah and a nurse held Thomas down as the doctor gave him the anesthesia. He woke up calling for "mama." The anesthesiologist warned he might be aggressive as the anesthesia wore off. He was just crazy and thrashing.

"He would have scared you," Sarah said. "It was like The Exorcist. He was screaming and twisting around."

Since he hadn't eaten since the night before, he was excited when he saw the food that they brought him, potato chips, ice cream and jello. Sarah had also taken him to Woolworths, a South African grocery chain, and let him pretty much have whatever he pointed at: dried pears, jello with custard, chips, blueberry muffins yogurt and gummy worms. The doctors advised Sarah to give him biltong (a S. African favorite -- jerky made of various animals) to encourage lots of chewing, and Coke because carbonated drinks are good for him. He's predictably excited by the ice cream.

The doctor said we should notice a difference quickly because there was so much liquid with a jelly-like consistency in his ear. Last week in Nelspruit, they couldn't even give him a hearing test because his ears were too clogged up. In his next appointment later that day, the ear, nose and throat doctor told us later that when Thomas heard us, it was like he was under water. He showed us all of the x-rays and subsequent doctor agreed that an operation was necessary.

Sarah tested Thomas out by whispering to him and could tell that he noticed a difference particularly when he reacted to other noises at the hospital. He and his mother flew out on Tuesday morning and will be there for two weeks as he recovers. They're at the hotel now, and Thomas is tired, uncomfortable and taking five different medications. Fortunately they have a lot of snacks, a six pack of muffins and South Africa's version of Sesame Street.