Surgery Day!

Hyrum and Alma at Primary Children's Hospital in Lehi. Surgery day - February 20, 2024

Finally surgery day! Tonsils, adenoids, and both turbinates shaved down!

The road here took longer than it should have. Insurance or the lack of it became a huge barrier. The ENT specialist felt it needed to be done immediately, but once he found out we were uninsured he said it would not be possible for them to do the surgery.

I started calling for estimates and navigating the complexity of even getting estimates. We quickly surpassed $45,000. This did not include all of the costs for the anesthesiologist nor all of the costs for the required overnight hospital stay because of Hyrum's breathing issues. The discouragement and frustration was overwhelming. I knew from the medical debt we already were drowning under that there were little options for us at the time. The specialists said to make sure he used his CPAP until we could get the surgery and Hyrum would be okay.

A year later, we found ourselves in a completely different living situation, and gratefully, Hyrum had Medicaid. Medicaid made it possible to get all the treatments he desperately needed. After meeting with the ENT specialist, we were able to schedule Hyrum's surgery the next week at the recently opened Primary Children's Hospital in Lehi. They had just opened the day before we met with the ENT specialist. The surgery department was opening a week later, the day before Hyrum's scheduled surgery. No more waiting. Relief rushed in for us. It normally takes 3 to 4 months to get the surgery scheduled, but because of the new hospital opening, we were able to get it scheduled right away. This was a huge blessing for us.

Overnight stay in the ER. Overnight recovery rooms were not open in the new hospital yet. The ER staff were so helpful and kind.

The ENT specialist went back and forth with us on whether to do all three procedures or to do some now and some later at a second surgery. A major factor was the insurance. It determined that it would be very difficult to get a second surgery approved for the turbinates that needed to be shaved down. It was decided day of surgery to do both turbinates instead of one of them. Recovery would be difficult.

It took almost a month for Hyrum's pain levels to drop back down to a bearable level. It took seven weeks to a partial return to school. These moments are when you notice the difference. The healing is slower, the pain more intense and difficult to manage, the extreme fatigue and the endless sleeping.

Hyrum wanted off of the CPAP machine more than anything. I wanted a healthy son. One that was no longer tethered to a machine every night. He made it through! Stronger. Hyrum was a warrior through it all.