This past summer, I took the kids for hearing tests. Trevor's was required for school, and I took Tatum on a hunch that maybe she was dealing with some problems with her hearing. That hunch proved to be right. The ENT explained that Tatum has been able to hear about as well as a person can, with their hands covering their ears all the time. It certainly explained a lot of complaints we'd had about the TV volume, not to mention the off-the-wall responses we'd sometimes get to questions she clearly guessed at. He said she had a bunch of fluid in her ears that evidently doesn't drain. The crazy part? She hasn't had ear infections. The fluid is there, but not infected. So even though she's been treated for maybe one ear infection in her life- she was scheduled to have ear tubes put in, and adenoids removed.
So last Wednesday, we took our girl in to have it done. She had no clue what was actually going to happen- only that Dr. Bates was going to "fix her ears." They gave her "silly juice" before taking her back to knock her out and insert IV. Hanging out with Tatum on "silly juice" might be the single most hilarious thing I've seen in a while. Imagine a happy, but intoxicated 3 year old. She slurred her speech, exaggerated her movements, and at one moment, turned toward us and said "I loove you Daaddy." We both about lost it.
Here she is before the juice took full effect. Her eyelids are a little droopy, but she's still with us.
At this point, she could no longer sit up or hold the DVD player in her lap...
right about the time she expressed her love for her daddy.
Thankfully, there aren't any pictures of the scene we saw after surgery, right up to the ride home. Let's just say anesthesia and Tatum don't mix. Our little "bulldog," as she's affectionately known, seemed to harness the strength of will of a thousand bulls as those fuzzy meds wore off. She wanted to tear out her IV, and bolt. There would be no licking of Popsicles or sips of juice. She. would. not. have. it.
She screamed, and she screamed. This wasn't our first rodeo, we'd seen some massive fits before, and weren't entirely surprised. I wish I could say the same for the nursing staff and fellow patrons nearby. When Tatum's screams reached their peak and her little heart-rate monitor raised to the point where alarms sounded- they all looked at us. "Maybe a change of scenery might help?" suggested the nurse. I'm still not sure whose idea it was that we leave, but we soon found ourselves in a parking lot, with a still screaming Tatum. I held her in the parked car until she calmed down and we drove home. About 2 minutes after Nathan put the car in gear, she looked like this:
Since then, she's been a total champ. I wonder if she even remembers the screaming. That afternoon, she told us her voice sounded different in her head. We've already noticed her hearing has improved. She's still healing, and isn't quite 100%, but she's not complaining of "water" in her ears at bedtime, which is a huge relief in the sleep department.
1 comment:
Luke (our 20 month old) had tubes put in his ears at 12 months old as well for fluid in the ears that wouldn't drain. No ear infections either- just fluid sitting there. Our pediatrician noticed the fluid in his ears at his 9 month checkup when he looked in his ears. We then came back monthly to see if the fluid had drained. After 3 months of repeated fluid that doesn't drain, our ped. then refers patients to the ENT since fluid that remains there effects hearing and would eventually effect speech development. Luke's tubes haven't fallen out yet. We go back in 4 months to see if there still there.
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