ear tubes part deux

this past friday we took dax in to have his second set of ear tubes put in.  since the first pair fell out around november he'd had basically constant ear infections since.  we had him on antibiotics the entire time, they just kept bumping up the prescriptions to be stronger, and stronger, and stronger.  all of this ear infection messola was causing him to slide backwards on his speech progress and we were just really confident that more tubes was the only way to go.  so, in the bitter cold we woke dax up and got him into the car and over to the surgery center.

he was a really good patient (once he woke up) and the nurses all thought he must have been given versed/midasolam.  we assured them that he was just his normal happy little self.  we were very glad there'd be no versed this time considering that his last two times with it didn't go so smoothly.  thankfully this procedure was so quick that it wasn't necessary.  

he quietly played with daddy while awaiting his turn.  he really enjoyed the medical equipment he had at his disposal.  the dr. joked that this was probably the most expensive toy he'd ever played with.  he made fast friends with all of the nurses and staff.  everyone was falling in love with sweet dax.  many people came by to tell him how handsome he was and ask him his name.  he was quite fond of all of the attention.  he only asked about food once and told us he "was reawey hungwee".  luckily we kept keeping him distracted with those pricey toys.  before we knew it they were coming to wheel him back into the operating room.  it wasn't until they came to take him away that we got the giant crocodile tears.  thankfully the nurse was very friendly and assured dax that he could take raffie with him into the operation room.  everyone was falling for those sweet tears and the quiver lip.  the dr. confirmed that dax could probably have gotten a pony with that show.

after he'd been taken back will and i headed out to the lobby to wait for the good word.  will found us some hot chocolate from a nespresso machine and before we could finish both cups the dr. was out to tell us that everything went well and that we could go back to recovery with him.  the dr. confirmed that one of dax's ears was still completely full of fluid, even though just one day prior he'd finished his last antibiotic.  good call.  we tossed out our cocoa and headed back to see sweet boy.  he was wrapped in a blanket and quietly sleeping.  the nurse stayed with us until we got him rousted and sampling some apple juice and crackers.  he was super drowsy, but sweet boy will pretty much do anything for crackers.  within half an hour he was ready to go and we loaded him up into the car.

when we asked dax what he wanted for breakfast he said he wanted a biscuit.  boy loves some carbs and you'd think he'd take the opportunity to get a doughnut or something, but no he insisted on a biscuit.  however, by the time we got to the restaurant he decided he was eating pancakes - and he was in luck since their pancakes were bigger than the plate!  dax did a pretty good job eating his breakfast and was happy and feeling good for the rest of the day.  while the antibiotic ear drops are not fun (i hate ear drops too, so i can sympathize), we explained to him they are important and he'll only have to do them for a little while.

we can already notice that he feels better, can hear better, and is back to his old normal self.  hoping these tubes will last as long as the last pair and hopefully be the last pair he needs!

those ears

these sweet ears are so perfectly adorable, its hard to imagine how they can cause so much trouble.

these sweet ears are at it again.  last week, long about wednesday evening, dax started to show signs of feeling under the weather.  will thought he may have had a fever, but the thermometer said his temp was fine.  he seemed groggier than normal for that time of night (although every night with a three year old that doesn't nap is a little challenging), and we thought something was looming.  by thursday morning he woke up and told me his "ears" were "dirty" and so i offered him a little swipe of a q-tip and continued getting him ready for school.  since they were on an hour delay for ice, we had an extra hour to hang out before our departure.  it was during that time that he told me his "ears had a boo-boo" and i immediately called the pediatrician to get him checked out.  

once at the dr.'s office he told the dr. to check his "ears" and told him they had "boo-boos".  the doctor checked and confirmed that both ears were infected.  so, again we're back on amoxicillin.  the pediatrician suggested we reconnect with the ENT to determine if tubes were again warranted.  we let him know we'd already done that and the ENT pretty much told us that if he got another infection we'd probably want to go ahead and get them put back in.  (so far since the tubes fell out around thanksgiving, this will be our second infection.)

when daxton was two and a half he was diagnosed with some severe speech delays that were said to be due to his temporary hearing losses because of such frequent ear infections while his little ears should have been helping him learn words and hear the endings of words.  over the past six months he's made great strides with his speech improvements.  we'd hate to backslide now while he's gaining so much headway, and so we're looking for the most effective and immediate rectification of the issue.  his speech therapist agreed she thought tubes would keep him on track while he's gaining such rapid momentum.

so, we've put in a call to the ENT's office to see what the plan of action will be for this sweet fella and his precious ears.  prayers for quick healing and swift action to keep this boy free from further infections while a plan comes together.