Otitis Media

Otitis Media - An infection or inflammation of the middle ear. This has been an ongoing problem for Shayna ever since we returned from China, and a couple of days ago we took a step towards resolving this problem. It's called "ear tubes".
It's 7:30 in the morning at children's Hospital, and we are surrounded by numerous families who brought their children in for various procedures. We have to wait, sign forms, wait, talk to the nurse, wait, talk to the anesthesiologist and to the doctor. 3 hours later we're in business. Shayna was taken into the OR by a nurse and of course I am consumed by guilt. What if? What if she's thinking that we are abandoning her? What is she's scared? What if something happens? Carlton is doing his best to distract me. I didn't have much time to analyze the situation because 5 minutes later the doctor came in and said "All done". So, for this 5-minute procedure they had to anesthetize her? When we went in to see her she was crying and shaking uncontrollably in the nurse's arms, still disoriented and not knowing what just happened, and it took us about half an hour to calm her down. It was good to finally leave and go home. She was so exhausted that she immediately fell asleep for a couple of hours. As for me - I continued thinking about what a terrible parent I am for making her go through this. I guess I can't win here. She'll do fine though. She's a tough cookie.