Ear Tubes

Late January Rhett got another ear infection. I am sad to say that it took me a few days to figure it out. It had been a few months since he has had one and I lost my mommy radar when it came to knowing he was sick. I asked Phil to use his otoscope and check his ears and he said one looked red. Took him to urgent care and got a script. Four days after we finished the antibiotic Rhett came down with double ear infections. Ridiculous! He literally cried all day long and he has never done that. I didn't know what to do for him and he wasn't quiet unless he was sleeping. Phil checked his ears again and we scheduled an appointment with the pediatrician, who confirmed the double ear infection. I put a call into his ENT and we scheduled surgery. No more messing around over here!

His surgery was on February 15th with Dr. Mancuso. He is wonderful and the surgery went really well. It is an easy procedure, very quick. The thing that I was most worried about was that Rhett had to be fasting and when my boy wakes up he wants his cup of milk ASAP. He downs his milk and then is immediately ready for breakfast. So I was anxious about putting off eating for him.

Luckily due to his age we were scheduled earlier in the morning for his surgery. I woke him at 6:30 and we headed to the surgery center a few miles down the road. We checked in, filled out paperwork and changed his diaper.



He did really well not having any food or drink but got impatient and a bit cranky towards the end when we were waiting in the pre-op area.

The doctor came in and briefly reviewed things with me and then the nurse came to take him back. Rhett was getting squirmy and arched his back and bonked his head on the chair we were in. Cue the crying and I had to pass him off totally upset. He was sad/mad that I wasn't holding him and I felt bad he had to go back crying.

Someone took me back to recovery to wait for Rhett. I got situated, distracted myself on my phone for a few minutes and then a nurse came and said he was all done and was just needing to wake up from the anesthesia. So fast! He did wake a moment later and he was very groggy and grumpy.

He smelled of operating room and after a few moments of snuggles and coaxing he took his milk but hadn't
yet opened his eyes.

As soon as Dr. Mancuso came to clear us and I signed discharge paperwork we loaded up and left for home. In and out in just over an hour, with the bulk of the time spent waiting. Rhett was given an intramuscular shot of ibuprofen and we came home and he took a nap. When he woke up we went to the mall to play and it was like nothing had happened to him. He was happy!

 

And thus far we haven't had any issues. I need to schedule a follow-up visit but I am really happy that Rhett is healthy and hope that he stays that way.