Ear Update

We had Cooper’s follow-up visit with the ENT this morning and the doctor still found fluid behind one of his ears. Since he is currently fighting a very snotty cold, the doctor all but guaranteed that it would develop into an infection by the weekend and gave me a prescription to fill and administer once we start seeing the usual symptoms. He also told me that we will need to get the ear tubes, and as long as Cooper’s cold doesn’t move down into his chest (which could cause issues when he’s put under general anesthesia), he could get it done right away, or we can just keep managing the ear infections (and resulting diarrhea) until a better time for our family schedule.

I sat and realized October’s out (lots of plans with family), then we get into holiday season mid-November on through early January. Then Justin’s next Alaskan trip and the boys transitioning to a new daycare through the end of January. And ALL the new germs in a new daycare in January…AAAHHHHH! Do I really want him to be going through all of this?…the see-saw of ear pain and fevers and barely-working meds and fitful sleeping and expensive probiotics to keep his GI track healthy and trips to the pediatrician (whom he now fears)? Not to mention the additional time off work to take care of him, fighting with him to take his meds and probiotics, or the ever-mounting costs involved (above-mentioned probiotic, all the co-pays for all these sick visits, and even the generic antibiotics start adding up when he’s taking taking two per month). There’s also the very-real possibility of permanent hearing loss, verbal and/or auditory development delays, or Antibiotic-Associated Colitis, which stems from the gut being completely wiped of beneficial bacteria (most often from extended antibiotic use) and intestinal inflammation forms from a now un-hindered Clostridium difficile bacterium (previously hindered by those good bacteria).

That entire paragraph ran through my head in mere seconds, all while Cooper was noisily banging on the chair next to me, shouting “doon-dih, doon-dih, nana, nana, doon-dih, dint”, and my wallet was screaming “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I felt my head nodding yes and said, “ok. We’ll do it at your next opening here” (he does surgeries in two different hospitals). So he’s scheduled for 8am next Friday (19th). Stock up on your chocolate and salty snacks now because I’ll be hitting the stores in the next day or two to stress-feed my anxiety.

Just wondering, is there anyone else out there who thinks those ear tubes look a lot like those plastic wall anchors?