To Tube or not to Tube

That is the question. We took Adelaide to the ENT on Tuesday and he suggested that Adelaide get tubes on Monday. Monday! It seems like it's all happening so fast. I left the office (without Rocky BTW) having scheduled surgery for our little girl. It was weird.

When we first got there we did another hearing test which is actually pretty cool (not that she had to have it, but the actual process itself). We sit together in a sound proof booth-- Adelaide in a high chair and me beside her. I silently preoccupy her attention with toys while the tech plays sounds of different pitches in speakers beside her. When she hears a sound and turns her head, the tech has a puppet light up and dance. I creates a sort of Pavlovian response to keep her turning her head toward the sounds she hears. Well, turns out Adelaide's hearing is still a bit diminished from all the thick fluid in her ears.

The ENT then checked out her ears. He, like the pediatrician, said she had a slight infection in one ear but that both were still very full of fluid, fluid that was thick mucous-like fluid. After taking a look, he suggested we get tubes. He said he based his tube decision on 2 criteria-- 1. more than 4 or 5 ear infections a year. 2. persistent otitis media (fluid/ inflammation in the ears for longer than 2 or 3 months). He said Adelaide struggles with both. He also the fluid is the perfect culture median and without it draining she's prone to more infections. So that coupled with her ongoing diminished hearing and the problems ongoing antibiotic use cause, he decided it was worth it.

The thing he was particularly concerned with is her hearing. He said this age is so critical to speech development that down the road if she continued to have muddled hearing, it could become more of a problem.

So I came home and told Rocky what the doctor said and I think he started to freak out a bit. He didn't like the idea of his little baby undergoing anesthesia. Honestly, who would like that idea. Anyway, after talking with friends, a call from the ENT, and some reading on my part, we are both feeling more confident and ready to proceed. I'm a researcher by nature and don't accept opinions as my own until I've learned about the subject 'til my heart's content. I don't think I'll ever be one of those folks that hears a doctor's suggestion and just goes with it. Call me what you will.

Anyway, so it looks like surgery will be on Monday at 7am. It should only be a 5-15 minute procedure. The risks associated with the tubes are pretty minimal, but you could pray that everything goes smoothly with the anesthesia. Rocky had issues with anesthesia when he was a kid. We're also hoping a good friend of ours will be the nurse anesthetist. If you think to pray for us why not tack that on there too. I'd love it if a friend could be in there with her, silly as it seems.