Dr says DS needs adenoids removed & tubes placed

[GoMamaMel]

Hi there. Im feeling really conflicted and would like some input.

My 16 mo ds has had reaccuring ear infections since he was about 6 months. I tried various different dietary changes in order to help the ear infections go away but didnt have a lot of success. Its been a couple months since he had an ear infection, but I suspected that his hearing was affected & had him seen by a specialist.

They performed an ear air pressure test where they tested the movement of his eardrum. A healthy eardrum with no fluid should move a lot, one of his moved a tiny bit and the other didn't move at all. The Dr says this means theres a lot of fluid behind his ear which is effecting his hearing. This is probably effecting his speech; probably the reason that he hasn't formed any words yet. Furthermore, the Dr. suggests that his large adenoids are blocking his ear/nose/throat system and says this is why they need to be removed. He wants to remove the fluid behind the eardrum bc he says it will not come out on its own at this point it is too thick, and then place tubes in his ears. 

I am usually pretty anti medical intervention, so the idea of him having full anesthesia and undergo surgery really has me feeling anxious. Im having a hard time knowing what is necessary for his health, and if there are any other options. I feel completely overwhelmed and out of my league bc I don't know very much about this field in particular. 

Has anyone had experience with this? any words of caution or advice?

[sbgrace]

If you look into biofilms you'll learn that very likely his ear fluid is holding "houses" of bacteria that antibiotics can't reach. The biofilms are protective basically. Hence you get those recurring infections. How many, when was the last one, are you doing antibiotics for each one?

The only way to get rid of biofilms is draining the fluid. They don't just punch holes in ear drums anymore so tubes is the only way to do that.

You will get or read advice to cut dairy and other allergens and look into cranial sacral therapy and/or chiropractic. I read a book by Mary Ann Block (I think it's out of print now but maybe a library system has it) that gave ideas on how to avoid tubes. It had some helpful massages to drain fluid. All that is worth a try. But I wouldn't waste much time given this is affecting him developmentally.

My son had recurrent infections 12 to 18 months. They said we needed tubes after an infection we just couldn't kick. Instead I went full out with diet changes, chiropractic, cranial sacral, supplements (xylitol is a good one for ear infection prevention...there should be online information about that and we also boosted the immune system with probiotics and colostrum). He was infection free until 3.5. He got an infection then that very quickly turned into mastoiditis. He ended up hospitalized with surgery and IV antibiotics. This kid just had ears that didn't drain. I think had we done tubes back when he would have been better off. Just because tubes are over-used doesn't mean they are never needed.

You might look into a 2nd opinion before you go for surgery and it certainly wouldn't hurt to see if you can do something to drain that fluid (cranial sacral or chiropractic if you get a good one might help). But sometimes tubes are really the best thing.

[GoMamaMel]

thank you for your response, that's helpful information that I wasn't aware of regarding the biofilms. 

The most recent infection was about 2 months ago. this has been the longest time he's been infection free since he began getting the infections. He got about 8-10 infections within 6 months, but i suspect there were others that went unnoticed, or maybe a couple before he was seen. At first i avoided the anti-biotics and tried homeopathic ear drops and supplements, but unfortunately his infections were getting so bad we ultimately would end up in the hospital with gross draining ears. I gave into the antibiotics and he went through about 5 rounds of antibiotics with about 2 weeks of separation in-between (the minimum amount of time). The last one finally kicked once we combined a new antibiotic with the ear drops. 

My son doesn't drink cow's milk, and really the only dairy he has is yogurt in minimal amounts. I have heard that this can be linked to ear infections. We cut gluten, as I heard this was linked, but it slowly crept back into his diet and he still hasn't had anymore infections. I would definitely be interested in checking into the other resources you suggested, my only concern right now, as you mentioned, is that I need to move quickly because his development has been effected. 

this is a really good point: "Just because tubes are over-used doesn't mean they are never needed." very true. 

[sbgrace]

So his ear drums burst, he's had nearly constant infections, now when he doesn't have them he's holding fluid to the extent his hearing and development are impacted....is that all correct?

I really think I'd get a 2nd opinion on the adenoids but seriously consider tubes/both surgeries if warranted. The tubes surgery is super fast (it takes longer to put them under than it does to put those tubes in) and safe as far as surgery goes. I don't say it lightly and I totally get the desire to try to fight them instead but I'd think your child may be one who really does need the tubes.

[GoMamaMel]

Yes that is all correct. 

I think that that's what my instincts are telling me (that he does need the surgery) but i'm still feeling really guilty about it for some reason. Maybe i just needed someone to agree with me. Thanks for agreeing. 

[pek64]

If the dairy is causing the problem then ALL dairy would have to be removed -- including yogurt.

[marsupial-mom]

Personally, I think I would get a second opinion and then if that doctor recommends surgery just go for it! It really sounds like you son is the type who needs it.