We had an appointment with the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) Doctor today and just as I thought, he strongly recommended we put tubes in Ava's ears. After listening to all the benefits and risks, we know it's the right thing to do. Currently there is almost always fluid behind Ava's eardrums making it painful and causing a reduction in her hearing. Without surgery we risk developmental delays, speech delays, permanent damage to Ava's ears and hearing as well as more infections and more pain for her. Surgery will immediately relieve all the pressure, restore her hearing and help to prevent future infections. There is no guarantee that she won't get another ear infection, but if she does it will be easier to treat with the tubes in. Dr Swain Sr. wanted to do the surgery as soon as possible, but since this Friday (tomorrow) wasn't going to work out, we're scheduled for this coming Tuesday, February 6th.
The surgery is outpatient, but Ava will have to have general anesthesia. The procedure will take about 15 minutes and then we wait for Ava to wake up. Because she is so little they will try to wake her up as soon as possible and may need to monitor her for a few hours to make sure she is eating and taking in fluids. Dr Swain was very thorough and he's done the procedure on hundreds (probably thousands) of babies and children, including two of his own (one at age 2 months and the other at age 3 months) so I know we're in good hands. Someone told me we'd have to wait until after Ava was a year old but that was false.
I think waiting for her to wake up will be the worst part. Jasen will be travelling to Orlando that day so Mom Lingle will be going with me.
The image above is of Ava (right before bath time) with her first cool "kid" band-aid. She got it after one of her antibiotic shots this week (she ended up having to get 3). It went unnoticed by her until I took it off during bath time. Then she got upset with me because she wanted to put it in her mouth and I wouldn't let her...
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Tubes it is
at 8:57 PM
1 comments:
Poor Ava baby! That just sucks. Kyle had tubes put in both his ears when he was 6. He was so much better afterwards. He's had maybe 3 or 4 ear infections since then, that's it, in 4 years. His ears had gotten so bad that the ENT, Dr. Henson, did hearing tests before hand to see the extent Kyle's hearing was being impaired, and he had lost 90% hearing in his left ear and 60% in his right. The poor kid had to have the tv blaring all the way up just to hear it. Afterwards, things got really loud to Kyle. For about 2 weeks or so Kyle's ears were really sensitive to sound, he was constantly telling us to shush. They did the trick though, he was much healthier afterwards. Just be very careful around water. The smallest amount in the ears causes a lot of pain. Kyle had that happen a few times, it wasn't fun. Let me know how things go when you get home, I'll be home around 4pm. We'll be thinking of you guys! Give Miss Ava a big hug and a kiss from us.
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