Thursday, May 3, 2012

Tubes


When Molly went in for her 4 year check up she did not pass her hearing test. This was nothing new as she had issues passing her hearing test at her 3 year check up. Granted, when she was turning 3 she was just getting over an ear infection. She finally did pass after a few follow ups with her pediatrician. When she turned 4 she did not pass again and we scheduled a follow up. When she was still not passing we were sent to an outside clinic with more equipment for further testing.

Molly had her first test with Hear Bright in January and did not pass. Since there was fluid present in both ears we were scheduled for a follow up to give the fluid a chance to drain. It did not and the next step was to see an ENT. We have three friends that have already done tubes with the same doc (Dr. Sajjadi at San Jose Ear and Sinus) so it was a pretty easy decision. They did another set of hearing tests and Molly was not hearing anything below 30-40 decibels. We already knew tubes were a likely outcome and we booked the procedure right then and there.

Unfortunately then we all got sick.

N had been fighting something for over a week and I noticed last Friday that Molly's nose was pretty irritated from running.  I woke up with it early Monday morning. A few phone calls later and the ENT said we could move forward with the tubes and that we should get a prescription decongestant from her doc. We made an appointment and were sent out for an x-ray and some blood work.

Molly's pediatrician suspected her adenoids might also be causing an issues and wanted those checked out via x-ray since they could be taken care of the same time as her tubes. Molly actually loved seeing the x-rays, even if she had a hard time staying perfectly still while taking them.

The blood draw was another story entirely.

VERY traumatic.

Um, if you are going to do a blood draw on a four year old how about you assemble the needle BEFOREHAND?!? Nope, this genius decided to do that right in front of Molly after tying on that plastic band trying to find a good spot for a solid two minutes. Molly was freaking out before the needle ever went in and I had to hold her down to keep her still. She did calm down a bit during the second vial (yes, they did TWO) as I was explaining to her that once that was filled she would be all done. Molly watched it fill up and as soon as the needle was out she wanted to leave RIGHT NOW!!!

Then she demanded a banana shake from Falafel Drive-In.

Molly's adenoids were fine, but could be an issue in the future. I've also been told her tonsils will most likely need to be taken out one day too. Molly did have a sinus infection, but nothing that would stop us from moving forward with her tubes. We got an oral antibiotic and some nasal spray.


Yesterday morning N and I got up around 5:00 am and woke Molly up just before we needed to leave. She couldn't quite understand what we were doing up when it was still dark out, but didn't really complain. We got checked in and filled out the necessary paperwork. She was a complete sweetheart with the nursing staff and happily took her meds. When they finally did kick in she said her stomach hurt and she thought she was going to be sick. We calmed her down and she was soon off in la-la-land. They rolled her away and we headed out to the lobby.


The procedure was super quick and the doc came out to tell us everything went well. The fluid he drained was so thick it was what they refer to as glue. He said he could have waited another 10 minutes and drained even more of it. We were given some medicated ear drops that we need to give her twice a day.

Then we were allowed back to see her. Molly was just coming around and she was NOT happy. Looking back I think she was super frustrated her body would not do what her mind wanted it to do. There was a LOT of screaming and she was very very angry. The nurses assured us this was perfectly normal, but she was loud! I have never seen her that upset and lashing out that much. She was screaming, crying, kicking, and hitting.

They quickly moved us into our own room as we tried to get her dressed. Molly wanted to do it herself, but couldn't even stand without falling over. The nurse finally said we could take her as is (no clothes) and walked us out to the car. After some more fighting and insisting she wanted to dress herself (and ripping off her top after I finally got it on her), I wrestled her into her car seat and we headed home.

I had not been paying attention to the time and we got on the freeway just in time for the morning commute. Traffic was stopped. This was also just about the time Molly decided to try and unbuckle herself so she could put her own clothes on. Good thing I was in the back seat with her. I had to keep her arms away from the buckles and that just pissed her off even more. It was a long ride home. She gave up the fight about halfway home, but insisted on walking herself inside once we did arrive.

We followed closely as she was still swerving all over the place and into the walls. She wanted to dress herself and after she almost fell into her dresser twice I had her get dressed in bed. At least that way she would fall over onto a mattress.

Once she was finally dressed she demanded Sleeping Beauty and cuddled up with daddy. By the time the movie was over the anesthesia had worn off and our lovely little girl was back. Molly even apologized for her behavior (without any prompting) and said she was sorry for being so growly at us. 

I've talked to a few other parents that had had to do anesthesia before with their kids when they were Molly's age and everyone had a similar story. At least we're not alone, I suppose.

Molly's teacher did tell me today that she already noticed a difference. Molly was talking a lot more at school since she was actually hearing the questions directed towards her. That was good to hear.

1 comment:

Mama Bree said...

man! sorry to hear she had such a hard time waking up and waiting for the anesthesia to wear off :( that sounds just plain exhausting if not also emotionally draining. glad to hear it's all over and everything went well - here's to hoping her ears/hearing are MUCH better moving forward!!! :)