ENT update

financialdiva

DS2 is having surgery to put tubes in his ears next Tuesday.

He has had fluid in his ears since Oct 4th, which obviously keeps getting infected. He's been on four different types of antibiotics. Every other week we went back to the pedi and he always had an ear infection. Finally, last week we went and he didn't have an infection but there was still fluid in his ears. We went to the ENT today and the fluid is still there, despite other efforts to get it to drain and he has another infection.

I have done a ton of research. Our very non invasive pedi also thinks this is the best route. ENT confirmed he is hands down the perfect candidate. I trust them both, and I think it's the right choice, but I am still nervous I am making the wrong one. (

chrissynena

Just a lurker, but thought I could ease your mind about the procedure. It was super simple. The longest wait we had was in the waiting room before hand. When they took her back, we literally were sitting down for 10 minutes and they were coming to get us to go to recovery. We were in recovery for 15 minutes then home. She reacted very well to everything. 

Good luck!

ccam

It sounds like you're making the right choice.  We go back to the ENT on Friday to learn our fate. 

LoCarb

DD1got ear tubes...best,decision.ever! They lasted a yr and there were no EI in between. The surgery was literally 5 min long. Nothing to worry about,Momma!

RibbitGrl930

I have no input from experience on this, but I just wanted to give you a virtual {{{HUG}}}. I guess this is what our lives will be like from now on, having to make decisions regarding our LOs, not knowing if we're right or wrong. I can only imagine how scared you must be and my thoughts go out to you.

Veittobe

Ear tubes are a very simple surgery and can make your LO's life so much more comfortable.  I understand not wanting to sedate a child though.  The risks of not treating it and letting the fluid/infections continue include possible speech delay, difficulty hearing/understanding in the classroom which can cause difficulties in school, infection causing permanent hearing loss, etc.  For me, I would go for the tubes in a heartbeat.  But, I work in an ENT clinic so it seems little more normal to me than most, I suppose.

BeeGirl2

We waited on tubes with DS1 and he ended up with so many additional issue. Your doing the right thing to be proactive and get the tubes. GL

*sparky*

Veittobe said:

Ear tubes are a very simple surgery and can make your LO's life so much more comfortable.  I understand not wanting to sedate a child though.  The risks of not treating it and letting the fluid/infections continue include possible speech delay, difficulty hearing/understanding in the classroom which can cause difficulties in school, infection causing permanent hearing loss, etc.  For me, I would go for the tubes in a heartbeat.  But, I work in an ENT clinic so it seems little more normal to me than most, I suppose.

Totally agree with this.  I know it is a scary thought to put your LO through a surgery but it sounds like nothing else is working, and having your LO on antibiotics all the time is not great for them either.  The tubes should make a huge difference.  I went through the same thing with my DS and my DH was really nervous about the tubes but it was the best thing we could have done.

litzo27

I'm sorry DS2 is going through this. I have no personal experience but it sounds like the tubes will really be a wonderful improvement for him! Good luck to both of you next week!

unm00red

We waited longer than we should have to put tubes in our son.  (He was 18 months when they went in.)  We are now having to do very intensive speech therapy to try to help catch him up.  One of my biggest regrets is that we weren't more pro-active about putting in tubes.

The procedure is very simple.  Like, they came and got us 15 minutes after we said goodbye to him.  He was his normal little self within two hours after coming out from anesthesia.

AmberDerek

My DS had 1 set of tubes put in and they didn't work.  Then they put in a new set and removed his adenoids. This worked.  He has had a few infections since, but nothing like the non stop infections he had previously.  You won't regret doing it.  The worst part is having them sedated, but it goes by very quickly.

financialdiva

Thanks for all the kind words ladies.

The thing I hear most from other friends who have gone through this is the biggest regret they have is not doing it sooner.

Meery82

financialdiva said:

DS2 is having surgery to put tubes in his ears next Tuesday. He has had fluid in his ears since Oct 4th, which obviously keeps getting infected. He's been on four different types of antibiotics. Every other week we went back to the pedi and he always had an ear infection. Finally, last week we went and he didn't have an infection but there was still fluid in his ears. We went to the ENT today and the fluid is still there, despite other efforts to get it to drain and he has another infection. I have done a ton of research. Our very non invasive pedi also thinks this is the best route. ENT confirmed he is hands down the perfect candidate. I trust them both, and I think it's the right choice, but I am still nervous I am making the wrong one. (

I could've written your post! Jack's had fluid since September. It was even starting to affect his balance. He was a later walker anyway and I think this may have contributed. He had tubes placed this past Wednesday. I'm so glad we did it! Five minutes after they took him back, they said he was all done. He was a little pissy right after waking from the anesthesia but was fine by the time we got home. His walking improved almost immediately and he hasn't been messing with his ears anymore. I hope this brings you some peace of mind!

mb314

We had tubes put in, and it was the best decision.  Although I hated putting DS under general anesthesia, the procedure was quick and easy, and DS recovered really quickly.

DS is a lot happier now that his ears aren't clogged.  I can tell he's hearing better, and he's even sleeping a little better (he's a terrible sleeper, so any little bit helps).

DS has gotten one ear infection since the tubes, but I knew right away they were infected because of drainage.  He seem a lot less fussy with this ear infection because his ears weren't clogged. 

Good luck! 

brandy4nicole

I agree with the others. My DD is on set #2 herself, and has been under anesthesia four times so far. That part is hard for me, but that's a normal momma response. The tubes make such a difference and it's nice to not be using antibiotics constantly like we were before.