Britany's Tonsillectomy

Britany was plagued in her twos and threes with recurring ear infections. It seemed like about half the time we had some of that pink antibiotic in our refrigerator. We finally reached the point where our pediatrician agreed it was time for a tonsillectomy, so sometime in the fall of ‘73 she underwent the surgery. The initial recovery was a challenge, of course, but she was doing well.

About a week after the surgery, on a Monday night — Kathy’s night out — I had the kids totally to myself. I fed them a healthy, nutritious dinner, played a bit, had our story time and got them settled down to sleep. I managed to wrap up that whole routine soon after 8 PM so I could watch Monday Night Football. However, before the first quarter was over, Britany came to me and said, “Daddy, I don’t feel very good.” She then proceeded to throw up blood. That freaked me out.

This was before cell phones, so I couldn’t call Kathy quite so easily. It turned out, though, that Kathy had gone to Kane’s Hardware for an art class, so I was able to reach her by phone and tell her to meet us at the hospital. I loaded the kids into my trusty Volkswagen and headed to the hospital in Webster. Kathy arrived about the same time we did. The ER staff took Britany inside, cleaned her up, and looked at her throat — her stitches had split. The wound was forming a scab, and they said it was congealing and she’d probably be okay. They discharged her, and we headed out to our cars. I put Britany in the front passenger seat of my Volkswagen with her seatbelt on, and Kathy took Scott with her.

But before we could leave the parking lot, Britany threw up blood all over my car again, so it was back into the ER. This time they recommended we take her to Texas Children’s in the Medical Center. Kathy and I handed Scott off to our friends the Kanes and headed to the Medical Center, where the staff could give her more complete treatment.

When we finally got to a room, Britany was unhappy — she wanted her panties. They’d taken her soiled ones off, so she was just in a hospital gown, and she really wanted panties. I’ve always had a bit of a “back problem” from being twisted around her little finger, so I drove from the hospital all the way home to League City to get her real pajamas, real panties, and some clothes to wear home the next day, then drove back to the hospital and delivered them. Of course she was asleep by then, but she was delighted the next morning when she woke up.