Henry's New Ears!

Before surgery. 

Hamming it up! 

Cuddles with Daddy after arriving home.

Nurse Evie! 

Back in Business! 

Henry is doing just fine with his tubes or as Evie says his new ears. Everyone keeps asking me if it was life-changing surgery because apparently for many it is life changing. Henry already sleeps through the night so that has not changed. We have noticed that he trying to talk a lot and Evie is convinced that Henry called her Sister. He is also much more aware of sound. Even the hum of the fridge or the the gate shutting at the top of the stairs.

I always want to know the details so here is the scoop. Henry has been sick a lot in the last two or three months. He has been on more antibiotics in those short months than Evie has been on in her entire life. Pretty crazy considering Evie will be 4 this month.

Two weeks ago, Henry had lots of green drainage. I did not take him to the doctor. It kept getting worse but no fever or anything out of the ordinary. I kept him home from school on Thursday and then by Friday we decided that a visit to the pediatrician was in order.

Carl took him to the doctor and found out that he had a double ear infection and had ruptured his ear drum. Of course, I felt like Mom of the Year!

Dr. B put him on an oral and topical medication. He seemed better at first. Then, on Christmas Eve, Henry was really fussy. Carl noticed a lot of discharge from his ear. Of course, that was concerning so we did what any modern parent would do and did a Google search. Christmas Day, was better and then worse. Nothing really changed.

Wednesday morning, I called the triage nurse and she told me to bring him in just to be sure that he was okay. Dr. B was booked so we saw another doctor. He changed Henry's antibiotic and referred Henry to an ENT. I exaggerated Henry's case a bit to get him an appointment with the ENT and felt a tad guilty. Long story short, I took him to the ENT on Friday morning. Henry failed his hearing test - just slightly but it still was alarming. The ENT that I had the appointment with was out of the office so they worked me in with another physician. Dr. Mullins took a quick look inside Henry's ears. He told me that there are bad ears and there are really bad ears. Henry had really bad ears. Dr. Mullins told me that if he had seen me the day before that Henry would have had the surgery on Friday but that it was fine to wait until Monday. Everything got pretty crazy at this point. Henry was not happy to be in the office without any toys and snacks were not allowed. He was mad and let us all know it. The nurses scrambled around to find Henry a spot at the surgery center for Monday and everyone seemed to think this was so urgent. All of this was a bit shocking but I left the office feeling good about the procedure.

Henry was miserable all weekend. Lots of crying and nothing would make him happy. Not even chocolate! I was nervous about the anesthesia part of the surgery but felt better when I found out that adults can have tubes put in right in the office. Toddler's are moving targets and the opening is so tiny in the ear canal that it is imperative that the toddler is sedated.

I had to wake Henry up about 6:00 - one of a handful of times that I had to wake him up rather than him waking me up. He seemed a bit disoriented but in a good mood. We arrived at the surgery center at 6:30 and I am so thankful to have such excellent medical facilities in such close proximity to my house. We checked in, met with the nurses, filled out paperwork etc. By 7:30, he was being whisked away for his procedure slightly ahead of schedule. The anesthesiologist carried Henry and Bun Bun back to the operating room with the nurse. They told me that Henry did not cry at all until he woke up in the recovery room in a strange crib. The nurses had told me that Henry would be really upset after the surgery and not because of the pain but because of the anesthesia. They were correct - Henry was ticked off. We were on the way home by 8:15. My phone was going crazy with calls, texts and emails about Henry and he was already en route to our house. So reassuring to have so many supportive friends and family members lifting us up in prayer and sending kind thoughts our way.

Evie had just woken up when we walked in the door so it worked out well for Carl to stay home with Evie. Several people had told me that their child was back to normal right when they got home so that is what I had expected. Henry spent most of the day on my lap and barely ate a thing. He's back to himself now but a happier version of himself. I'd highly recommend tubes for anyone that either has recurrent ear infections or that is experiencing resistance to the antibiotics.

It was easy, effective and worth the tiny hassle to help my sweet baby feel better!