Welcome to the tube club!

I had to have Ethan at the hospital this morning for a scheduled sedated ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) to check his hearing and a possible adenoidectomy. We did not anticipate a tonsillectomy since his tonsils are really small. The test was being done because we are trying to find an underlying problem for Ethan's lack of speech and language development.

Well, once the doctor was in there, he did not feel that the adenoids needed to be removed- so no A. Tonsils were fine too, so no T. No T & A for Ethan. What he did find was a LOT of fluid in his ears. So, we have now joined the ear tube club! His ENT nor I expected to be getting tubes today! He said that Ethan does not fall into the classic case of what is seen before putting tubes in- he rarely has ear infections. So, tubes it is.

The ABR shows that Ethan's hearing in his left ear is fine, but the test shows that he could have minor hearing loss in the right ear. The ENT feels that the test could have been affected by the fluid buildup and that we should retest the right side in the office on a regular basis. Even if he does have loss in the right ear, since his left ear is perfect, it would compensate the right and should not affect his S & L.

Now that Ethan doesn't have his port, they had to do an IV (thankfully after he was asleep), but removing it was awful. Poor baby screamed so loud! The tape they used was awful and it ripped every little hair off of his arm...my poor lil' monkey.

We're back home now and looking for a nap!