Our Little Leach: Ear Tubes

I feel today has been a long time coming. And when I say "long", I mean 2 months (which doesn't seem like long at all). Poor James has been battling ear infections/increased fluid since the beginning of May. We had made several trips to the pediatrician's office, trialed 5 different antibiotics, and have dealt with a lot of fussiness, diarrhea, and diaper rash. All more fun than we would have hoped for at the ripe age of 8 months old. We had taken him to be seen at Children's Mercy ENT back in the middle of June. No action plan really from that visit other than to follow up again in a month and then likely discuss ear tube placement.

** Back story: John had HORRIBLE ears as a baby and had tubes placed when he was just over one. So we had a feeling James could get blessed from this issue.**

After some unusual middle of the night screaming a week ago, John took James back to the peditrician on Saturday (7/2). It was dicovered that he still had a significant amount of fluid and his ears were bulging. The peditrician told John that James needed to get tubes ASAP and to call Children's Mercy on Tuesday to see if they could squeeze him in sooner than his July 15th appointment.

Tuesday morning rolled around and I called CMH. I cannot begin to tell you the level of frustration I had when the nurse basically told me that ther was nothing they could do, there was no wait list if another patient cancelled, and that they would still plan to see us on the 15th. Needless to say my momma bear came out and I had had enough. Poor James was miserable and I was fearful his ears would only get worse within the next week.

I initially wasn't hot on taking James to KU for his ENT needs, but figured it was worth a shot after the horrible phone discussion with Children's Mercy. Luckily I know the Clinic Manager for KU ENT and she quickly recommended we see one of the NP's at KU. I am also thankfully good friends with one of the nurses at J's pediatrician's office (also went to RN school with her) and she quickly made a call to KU to get us in ASAP.

I go ta call from KU ENT on Wednesday (my now "off" day from work each week-yay!) while James and I were out for a walk. The NP could see us that morning. We rushed home to get ready and off we went to get our second opinion. I'll summarize the appointment in 2 words: ABSOLUTELY. FABULOUS! The nurses were great, the NP was phenomenal, and I totally felt James was getting the care that he needed. They did a hearing test upon arrival that revealed James had hearing loss bilaterally. The NP flat out told us that he still had fluid on his ears, he needs tubes asap, and to immediately stop the antibiotic that he was taking. I felt RELIEVED that she was all for getting the show on the road so that we could stop all of the antibiotics and pain medicine that he has consistently been on for 2 months. Much to my surprise they had an opening for tubes on Friday (7/8) with one of the top Peds ENT surgeons in the area. What a blessing!!! I of course immediately took the appointment and John and I shuffled our work schedules as we wanted to get this taken care of.

Surgery was extremely quick. We had to arrive at 6:45 AM for 7:30 surgery. They took James back about 7:45 and called us from the waiting room at 8:00 to reunite with him again. He was NOT a happy camper upon waking up from anesthesia- extremely aggitated! He struggled to calm down and nurse so I was thankful I had pumped enough for a bottle on the way to the surgery center (we over slept and literally had to run out the door to make it on time leaving me no time to pump at home before we left- it's never dull, people!).

The car ride home was a little rough as James struggled to get settled down from the anesthesia. Once home and in his element he was right back to his usual, happy self. He played, ate, and then went down for a big nap.

We are now just praying that all continues to go well and that these infections are behind us. James has a follow-up appointment next Friday to make sure his ears are healing as well as a repeat hearing test. Crossing our fingers for a clean bill of health!

I could not be more grateful to KU for taking care of our babe. The staff and experience was simply amazing and exactly what this momma (and nurse) had wanted for her babe. If there was anything that I learned from all of this it's to never just take "no" as an answer when dealing with your baby. There is someone, somewhere that will listen to your worries. Always go with your gut feeling and advocate for what you feel is right!

We love you James and pray that your ears will only get better from here. :)