Anyone with a toddler who has had ear tube surgery?

[PennyRoo]

Hello, mamas -

Perhaps I should be posting in health and healing (mods?), but I wanted to throw out this question to the toddler forum first, since I have a 22 month old who is having a bilateral myringotomy (i.e. tubes in both ears) next week. It has been a nightmarish run of 9 infections since November, and we are currently on what I suspect is the 10th. I'd love to hear from others whose little ones have had a difficult run with ear infections and a subsequent experience with tubes. I'm a little nervous about the surgery/anesthesia bit, but am so frustrated with this long bout of illness and how much pain my LO is in (not to mention the sleepless nights for me . . ), that I'm starting to look forward to the surgery!

Any experiences you'd care to share would be welcome - thanks in advance!

[tjjazzy]

Penny Roo, i had a tube in my ear when i was a teenager so it's all fresh in my mind (as opposed to people who had them as little kids or haven't at all) so i wanted to give you some tips DO NOT let the child go out in even the lightest rain/wind EVEN in summer without a hat or something to cover your LO's ears!! it hurts otherwise. and EAR PLUGS in the water. or again, pain.
i'm sure all will go well. best of luck. i'm apprehensive about it myself and we've been going through a crazy run of a bug that just keeps giving my LO's and their daddy ear infections. the ear doc gave my hubby and ds1 the clear but ds2 now has ANOTHER infection so we'll see what he says when ds2 goes for his appt. this month. i don't have tonsils so i'm not getting hit with it as badly as the others are (it starts with a throat infection.) i'm hoping they don't recommend tubes b/c i think he's awfully young for it. i read recently that their ears/eustachian tubes aren't matured until they're at least 5 and sometimes these problems can disappear after that.

[justKate]

Unfortunately, I'm looking at the same situation. There are some posts in the Health & Healing forums if you search "ventilation tube" and the like. DD seems to always have ear fluid and/or infections. Tubes were recommended back in December, but now that she's 16 months and there's been no improvement, we are considering it again. Last time we decided on a "watch and wait" approach, but since that time we've learned and begun exploring the possibility that she may be on the spectrum and consequently not able to communicate pain appropriately. Ugh.

My brother had tubes when he was about the same age, and Huz had a history of untreated ear infections as a child that may have compromised his hearing (or it may have been time in Iraq), so I'm afraid our issues may be structural.

How is your LO's hearing? Is he vocal?

The anesthesia is what scares me the most, but I understand it to be a very quick procedure. Our neighbor's child got tubes a few months ago and she told me that the child was away from her for literally 15 minutes, max.

Please keep us upated.

[seagull]

I am so glad that we had tubes put in my son's ears. He was just under 1 when they were done. He had hearing loss that resolved once the fluid was drained from his ears. We used a children's hospital that had a fantastic staff. He was very upset coming out of the anesthesia but then nursed to sleep right away. One thing that I wish I had known was to warm the bottle of drops by holding in for awhile in my hand before putting it in his ears. His ears bled/drained for a few days but he seemed totally normal about 3 hours after the surgery. He never had any issues with rain or wind or anything. We did use ear plugs from the drugstore for baths and swimming. That is one thing that in hindsight I would change. I didn't want to pay for custom plugs since the tubes were going to last for about a year. Well his didn't grow out, so they were surgically removed when he was 4. If I could have known it would be 3 years, I would have paid for the fancy plugs.
He still got about 1 -4 ear infections a year, but they were so much easier to treat. With the tubes in, he could use antibiotic ear drops instead of oral antibiotics that upset his stomach.

[seagull]

Best wishes to both of your little ones. I remember how hard it was to agree to the tubes. Both our ped and myself really thought that he might just outgrow the constant ear infections. For both surgeries (in and out), we were at the hospital about 3 hours. If our ENT was ever on schedule, it would have been faster. My son was only away from me for 10-15 minutes.

[PennyRoo]

Thanks so much to those who responded. We, too, were in the "watch and wait" mode, but the infections are continuing well beyond the cold & flu season here in New England, and my Dd's quality of life has been seriously compromised by these recurrent infections. She's a trooper but is in pain much of the time.

As much as I did not want surgery, I'm really freaked out by the multiple rounds of antibiotics we have had to pump into her, and how little effect they seem to have had. Her surgeon told us with her history the only other option aside from surgery would be steroids - to which I said no thanks! No desire to get on that side effect bandwagon for her if at all possible.

My Dd does have a hearing loss (though thankfully, it has not at all affected her speech - she is incredibly verbal for her age) and her balance is completely whacked from her inner ear issues. it's sad to see her constantly stumble and trip.

We did end up getting the "fancy molds" - these huge, purple, dumbo-like ear cover thingies - and I will heed the advice about keeping a hat on hand for rain. Hadn't thought of that - thank you.

Right now I'm so worried because she spiked a fever this afternoon and appears to have yet another ear infection - foretelling yet another sleepless night for both of us. It's does not seem worth antibiotics since she seems not to be responding to them and her surgery is less than a week off, but she will be unable to have the procedure done if she has a fever or is sick at all. So it feels like an icky catch-22. I will update next week when the surgery is past!

[34me]

Two of my three had tubes, my oldest had two sets. What made up my mind for me was the shear volume of antibiotics my oldest was on prior to going to the ENT. She had no infections with the tubes in and the first set stayed in for 2 years. They were out for a month and she had an EI the whole time. No one told me how long the surgery would be and I wasn't even done crying (I was allowed in to the OR to lay her down until she fell asleep) when the ENT came out to tell us she was done. And when she had her second set put in she woke up and wanted to go to day care (she was three)

[kcstar]

My toddler hasn't, but I did. I was about six when mine were put in, and I did not have surgery to remove them (they fell out on their own some years later). I got about one ear infection per year after that, but I could hear better. For years I had problems with controlling the volume of my voice, but it's gotten better. (I still get loud when I'm excited or agitated.)

Surgery is a scary prospect, but it was quick and I don't remember any pain when or after I woke up. I also don't remember any bleeding afterward, but their might have been discharge.

My youngest brothers both had them when they were toddlers.

[PennyRoo]

Hey, all,

A quick update - my DD's surgery went great and I am *so relieved* it is behind us. Anesthesia was not fun, and we had a couple of rough days, but she's doing beautifully and her balance already seems much improved. The surgeon drained out gobs of "glue" (that's literally the name for the thick fluid behind the ear drums; can cause profound hearing loss among other things) and she's already sleeping better after an uncomfortable first few nights.

Thanks to all those who wrote and who PM'ed me asking how she was doing!

Now, if we can just keep her ear plugs in when she's near water . . . .

[justKate]

Very glad to hear it!