Ear Tubes - Everything You Never Wanted to Know
So next week is Alex’s ear tube procedure. You remember I told you guys about it a few weeks ago when I mentioned I Knew I Wasn’t Crazy? Anyhow, that procedure is quickly approaching. We had a pre-op appointment this past Monday, and all checked out fine. They listened to Alex’s heart and lungs, and gave us some wonderfully complicated looking ear plugs to use during bathtime and pool time afterwards.
Hard to believe such an adorable guy spends most of his time feeling down in the dumps with ear infections, isn’t it?
On Tuesday a nurse from the surgery center called. She called to get a full medical history on Alex and to give me some details about what will be going on. Alex will go in for the procedure at 8:00 am sharp. It will take 15 minutes to make small incision in the ear drum, suction out the fluid behind the ear drum, and put in the tubes. All this is done under light sedation (feeling no pain, but only lightly asleep). While in there, the doctors will take the opportunity to get a clear view of Alex’s adeniods. If they are inflamed, irritated or abnormally sized, the doctors will increase Alex’s sedation and remove the adeniods as well. If just the tubes are done and the adeniods are fine, the entire procedure will take about 15 minutes with 15 to 30 minutes in recovery before he’s fully awake. If the adeniods are removed as well, the entire procedure will take about 45 minutes, and recovery time will be 45 minutes to an hour.
So that’s the ear tube update! If anyone else ends up needing to get this done and has questions of what to expect, please feel free to email me at jnremeta@gmail.com. I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same experience we will, but I’m happy to share with you what led up to us tracking down an ENT, and what the procedure involved. Next week I’ll be posting an update on the procedure itself and how Alex comes through. The best news so far? Alex is allowed to take Bob (his favorite stuffed toy) and will have his favorite blanket with him throughout, both of which seem to have amazingly soothing effects on my little boy. Since he’s not doubt going to wake up sore and angry, these can only help.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:45 am
We just did the ear tube thing in March with my son and everything went really smoothly. He was groggy for a little while after the surgery but within a couple of hours he was back to his normal self. So far he hasn’t had any more ear infections.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:11 am
I hope everything goes well with the ear tubes, as I’m sure it will. BTW, that is the CUTEST picture of Alex. He looks like a little model baby!
Allyson
May 10th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Oh, I am hoping that everything goes well and that he is in as little pain as possible. Look at that adorable face… what a cutie!
How nice of you to offer your assistance to other moms who may need your advice… it’s always great to have resources at our fingertips for the future.
May 11th, 2007 at 7:15 am
I hope everything goes well. How nice that you offer to help other mothers who are going through the same thing. That is sweet.
May 11th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
It is scary. Good luck to you and that cutie!
May 11th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
I hope things go well. I’ll be thinking of you all.
Beautiful picture of Alex, too! You gotta frame that one.
October 24th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
My 3 and half year old son has an ear infection that is taking a while to go away. His Doctor wants us to take him to an ENT and has suggested Tubes. I am a little anxious about the thought of him getting tubes. Alex’s story has eased my fears a bit but I am still apprehensive about the procedure.
January 4th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Title…
I saw this really good post today….
January 6th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
This internet site is actually quite good, but for some reason it does not display properly when trying to view on my Nintendo Wii. If it helps, the console uses the Opera browser and am impelled to using the console for accessing the Internet whilst my PC is away being fixed.
January 10th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
It is important to take care to look after your hearing, I in reality like taking care hearing and whilst I do agree with the above-mentioned poster and I really hope I do not get shot down for stating this, but I believe it is essential to take all things in moderation.