Wednesday, February 16, 2011

TUBE TIME

This past Monday, Landon had his follow up appointment with his ENT.  Dr. Lee has been watching Landon closely this past year, it seems Landon likes to walk that fine line, always getting close to maxing out on his fair share of ear infections in one season........but never really reaching that last one.  I am going to be honest with you, this has been a REALLY rough winter for Landon (& his brothers).  Ear infections, croup & strep throat have hit my 3 little musketeers HARD:(  I'm really not sure if we ever went more than one week without an antibiotic in the house!

Landon has been very fortunate up to this point, although he had numerous ear infections, with a little help from those friendly antibiotics, those infections seemed to pass (leaving no residual fluid behind).  Apparently he responds well to antibiotics, and Dr. Lee seemed pleased with that.  That combined with the fact that Landon has passed every hearing test with flying colors, has bought our little man some time.  We have never been concerned that Landon has ever had an issue with hearing......however, lately we have been questioning how CLEARLY he hears.  Landon has been doing GREAT with sign language and his signing vocabulary is growing every day.  I am so happy that Landon is able to communicate with us through sign language, keeping his frustration to a minimum.  However, I can't help but feel that Landon isn't quite as far along "vocally" as he should could be.  I know that a speech delay is evident in children with Down syndrome and probably the one area that will need the most long-term work.  I am OK with that.  

The bottom line is, EVERY season Landon gets A LOT of ear infections.  Regardless if the antibiotic works and clears things up, these frequent ear infections are slowly affecting his hearing.  After much discussion and total agreement, Dr. Lee, Scott and I feel like this time is very critical for speech, and it is our job to make sure we give Landon every opportunity to hear the words clearly & correctly.  Landon's day has finally come, he will soon be joining the "Tube Club".  We are currently waiting for a call back from Dr. Lee's office to schedule a surgery date at Children's Hospital of Boston (CHOB).

Although I am 100% OK with the actual surgery itself, I am terrified of putting my little peanut under anesthesia!  :(




7 comments:

  1. Happy birthday (just a week late)!!

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  2. Having just returned from the ENT a few days ago, i'm right there with you! My nava has fluid so we're on the countdown to tubes unless it goes away very soon.

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  3. Kaia has had issues with her ears her whole life. While she doesn't get many (if any) ear infections, she's got such teeny tiny ear canals that she does gets fluid build up and her hearing has really suffered. We've been down the tube road a few times and it has helped. Unfortunately for her though, over time, her ears will fill up with fluid and the tubes will be clogged unable to do their job so they get replaced. Her first set lasted 2 years which was great!

    Surgery is definitely scarey, no matter how minor it is. Kaia has had about 7 surgeries I think so I'm very relaxed when she goes under. My 8 year old however has a surgery coming up and since he's never been under anesthetic I am COMPLETELY freaked out by it Being a Mom can be so stressful huh!

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  4. In the club too... Kayli has had multiple ear tube placements starting about age 3 (?). I know it's nerve wracking but Childrens is sooo good! We got ours at Dartmouth and they were excellent too - let you go in with your child and hold them while they go under. It made a huge difference in her ear fluid and hearing. Best to you Kelly.... are you going to the MDSC this year?

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  5. Anna got tubes in September. They had to use the super teeny-tiny tubes for her right ear =) I think she had only one ear infection up to that point, but she had fluid in her ears that was affecting her hearing. She could hear...but quality was low (like underwater). I am not sure how much tubes has helped her speech, especially seeing as how she still does not talk, but I think it really improved her balance. It was less than an week after tubes that she was ready for her first steps. I think all that fluid was throwing off her balance.
    BTW - ear infections w/ tubes is gross. Anna had one last November and the fluid leaking out was almost worse than her runny nose. But, I was so glad she had the tubes b/c that would have been one nasty ear infection!

    Good luck! We will be praying for you all!

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  6. Good luck. Wysdom got his done a while ago. They typically are supposed to take under 10 minutes to do. Wysdom had really small ear canals and took about 20 minutes. So it should be nice and quick. Hugs to you. Hoping all goes well.

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  7. I understand your pain with the antibiotics! Claire just finished round 4 for the never-ending sinus infection. I hope the tubes do the trick for Landon.

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