Monthly Archives: January 2012

My 16-month old went in for a myringotomy (ear tubes) Friday morning to treat her chronic ear infections, and even though we knew it was a fairly simple procedure, my husband and I were really nervous about it! During a myringotomy, a hole is created in the ear drum, where a tube is placed to keep the hole open, so that fluid can drain. This prevents fluid build-up in the ear that can lead to ear infections, since bacteria can grow in the fluid. The tube usually falls out on its own within 6 to 12 months, and the child is good to go with no more ear infections.

Why the ear tubes?
We actually didn’t realize that Lia had a problem with ear infections until her last one, which was originally found at her 15-month well child check-up. The day after she finished her 10-day course of antibiotics, she developed a fever, which lasted for almost 4 days. We took her back to the doctor and found that her ear infection had gotten worse, and the other ear was infected too. When her doctor asked how many ear infections she has had, we realized that she has had one at pretty much every well check she has had since she was born, plus one other time. We didn’t know that it was a problem because she has only showed any symptoms twice out of the 5 or 6 ear infections that she has had. Her pediatrician recommended that Lia see an ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist) to check if she needs ear tubes, since she has had so many infections in her lifetime.

Visit to the ENT:
Lia surprised us by doing so well at the ENT! She let the doctor check her ears and let the audiologist run 2 tests on each ear, which required probes that were like plugs in her ears and stickies on her head. The first test was to check if there was any fluid in her ears, and the second test checked her hearing. She passed both tests in her left ear, but her right ear had fluid, so she failed the hearing test on that side. At that point, it was clear that the best thing for her would be to proceed with the myringotomy.

Pre-op exam:
Before Lia could have the surgery, she had to have a pre-operation evaluation, so we went back to her pediatrician’s office. The pre-op visit was just a more thorough physical than her well-child checks, but without the shots, which the baby was probably happy about. They did not run any tests, but they did ask a lot of questions about her health and development and checked her body over to make sure she was fit for surgery. Although she did have a runny nose, she was cleared for surgery. We just had to watch for any fever or congestion that interfered with her breathing, since those were things that could cause them to postpone a surgery.

Before the surgery:
The myringotomy was scheduled for 8:15 in the morning, which meant we had to be at the hospital at 6:45 am. Since we knew we had to get Lia up early, we had her skip her afternoon nap the day before so we could get her to bed early. She was not to eat or drink anything other than clear liquids after 2 am and nothing after 6 am since it could cause a reaction to the anesthesia. When we checked into the hospital, we had to fill out the usual paperwork for billing and authorizations. Around 7:35, they had us dress Lia into her hospital gown and took her vitals (a blood pressure cuff around her calf and pulse-ox sticky on her big toe). They also gave her some Tylenol to help with any pain she might feel after the surgery. The nurses, doctor, and anesthesiologist came in while we waited to answer all of our questions. We were actually more worried about Lia being traumatized from being taken away from us than we were about the surgery, so we made sure to ask them exactly what was going to happen, so that we could explain it to her before she went in. We also made sure to let them know that we were concerned about her having “stranger danger” and that we were afraid that she would freak out when she didn’t see any familiar faces. We were relieved to know that there would be no IVs involved and that the anesthesia would be administered through a mask. I’m not sure if Lia understood us when we explained to her what was going to happen, but our little cutie laughed when we told her that they were going to put a mask on her face and she would fall asleep. She even let the nurse take her from me and did not start crying until she realized that we weren’t going with her.

The surgery:
The procedure itself did not take very long. After they took Lia to the operating room, they led us to a waiting room, where we were to wait for the doctor to come out after the surgery was finished to let us know how it went. I only played 3 or 4 words in Words with Friends and quickly checked my Facebook to see who “Liked” the picture of Lia in her hospital gown before the doctor came in. We were so happy to hear that the surgery went well and she was already in recovery. She had an infection in her right ear but that would clear up with the ear drops she used for 5 days after the surgery. A nurse came to get us once Lia woke up and we heard her screaming from the waiting room. Luckily, she calmed down as soon as I was able to hold her. We were only there for about an hour after the surgery before we were able to go home. During that time, a nurse took her vitals 2 more times to make sure she was okay to be released from the hospital and she gave us her discharge instructions.

After the surgery:
All kids react differently to surgery and anesthesia, but all I heard from friends and even Lia’s pediatrician is that they usually wake up as monsters! So I took the whole day off of work and made sure to prepare myself to have a groggy and/or cranky baby all day. We must have one tough girl because from the time I took her when she woke up from the surgery until we got home, she didn’t cry! She wasn’t even crabby! We got in the car and on the way home, she said, “I’m tired”, and she took a nap as soon as we got home. When she woke up, she played all day like never ever happened! The only concern we had since the procedure is that the next morning, there was a bloody discharge coming from her left ear, which freaked us out a little bit even though it didn’t seem to bother her. Fortunately, that is normal in the first 48 hours after the surgery. Other than that, she has been golden! We can even tell that she can hear us better because it seems like she’s acknowledging that she understands what we’re saying more by answering “Yes” and “No”. My baby girl amazes me everyday

If you have a story you’d like to share about your child having surgery or a medical condition, I would love to hear about it! Leave me a comment below!

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