Ear Tubes – the miracle cure…

Hudson had tubes put in his ears yesterday.  Since last December he has had several ear infections and a few failed rounds of antibiotics.  Technically, he still needed to have one more ear infection before he qualified for tubes. There were a few other things that concerned us that prompted us to ask to see an ENT.  Our instincts were on target – Hudson had a ton of fluid built up in his ears.  So, surgery was scheduled for a couple of weeks later. 

Yesterday, we were at the hospital bright and early.  Oh wait, it wasn’t bright because it was 5:45 in the morning!  Here is sweet Hudson on the way to the hospital:

They called us back to get Hudson’s vitals soon after we got there:

Trying to make an escape:

 

After that business was taken care of, the nurses sent us down to the play area:

 

See that little toy in his hand?  He became very attached to that and took that off to surgery with him instead of Myron!!! 

Next we got called back for the giggle juice.  I wish they had let Trent go with us so that I could have gotten video, but only one of us was allowed back with him.  I managed to get this picture.  Basically it made him very relaxed so they could take him from me without screaming. :)

After that they took him back to perform the procedure.  It was over very quickly.  By the time I got back down to the waiting area to meet Trent, the doctor was out minutes later (they literally had surgeries lined up every five minutes).  The doctor came out and told us that he had a lot of fluid built up in both ears.  We were also told that many times when kids wake up from being put under, they are mad. Mainly because they are suddenly hearing things they didn’t hear before and they are in a confused state.  Mad does not begin to describe our Huddy Buddy.  He was thrashing around, screaming at the top of his lungs and refusing everything.  Oh, and his eyes were closed the whole time:

After we got him to take some juice he calmed down a lot and demanded a lot more juice.  We were discharged soon afterward and ready to go home.  On the way home he kept handing me the sippy cup wanting me to fill it up. 

We got home and both of us took three hour naps. :)  The ENT told us that getting tubes for his ears would improve his speech, balance, sleep and temperament.  So far, we have definitely seen an improvement in three of the four areas.  I am definitely a believer in the miracle cure. :)