Brody gets his 2nd set of tubes!

Last Thursday Brody went into the Fairfax Surgical Center to have Dr. Bahadori place his 2nd set of tubes in his ears.  He got his 1st set when he was 13 months old and the tubes helped with the pain and symptoms of his ear infections but he still got tons of ear infections and almost always had fluid with his tubes!  The last tube fell out back in the spring and every time he's had his ears checked since then he's still had fluid on one or both sides.  :( Plus his hearing test wasn't so great and with his delayed speech they thought tubes were definitely the way to go.  I was very glad there was a cancellation and it was scheduled days after the appointment deciding he needed them.  

Brody was a trooper and only complained a little bit when he had to wear a dress--lol.  I hate the part where you have to stand there and watch them get knocked out--their little eyes rolling back in their head--so hard to watch.    About 5 minutes later Dr. Bahadori walked in and said it was all done and went really well but he had scarring in his ears from the infections (Travis does too and it causes him to be more sensitive about noises than other kids his age) and he had THICK molasses type fluid in his right ear.  About 5 minutes after that they took us back to recovery and Brody was being lifted off the gurney by a nurse and said "mommy!  we are in number 3!"  (curtain 3 in recovery-lol)  He wasn't groggy or grumpy at all---it was as if he hadn't been under anesthesia at all!  Brody was doing so well that we only stayed in recovery for about 10 minutes before they asked if we wanted to go home (normally it's about 30 minutes)!  Brody said his classic line of "oh ok" and popped off my lap to get changed.  Seriously...best patient ever!  We have our follow up next week and hopefully it will all look good---he messes with his right ear a lot still but that could be because he can finally hear out of that ear.  lol

Checking out the fish in the waiting room

In the playroom waiting for his turn!

 

ALL DONE AND NO PROBLEMS!  :)

I love tubes!

Earlier today I noticed why Brody was just a little off yesterday afternoon. He has an ear infection--well not really since the tubes that he got back in January have done their job! He was sitting on the couch this morning with me eating cereal and I noticed it looked like snot (dried) in his ear canal! Well since Travis had tubes I knew this was a sign of an "infection" but the tubes have drained it out. So he will get his ear drops and it will clear itself up! I love the no fever, no pain, no problem side of an ear infection with tubes! Thank you Dr. Batti and team!

Tubes were a BREEZE!

Sorry we were out of town this weekend so I haven't been able to post about Brody's surgery on Friday until now. Brody and I left the house at o-dark-30 on Friday morning (well it was really 5:45am) to head out to the surgery center in Fairfax. He slept the 1st part of the trip since it was still early but then he was awake and talking when we got there. We got to the center a little before 6:30am and went to check in. It was about this time that Brody realized he was awake and not being offered breakfast. Thankfully this doesn't mean an all out temper tantrum from him but it does mean he's clingy and whiny. So began my hour plus of holding him before his surgery.

We got upstairs to the area where you are pre-screened--BP, temp etc and they pre-dose the kids with Tylenol (thank you!). Brody was given a clean bill for the surgery which I was a little worried about since he had a slight cold. They gave him a tiny little tiger gown to change into and me this awful hot white jumpsuit to change into and then we were off to the "playroom" to wait for our turn. He didn't want to be put down in the playroom at all so I held him for what seemed like forever-he finally let me put him down about 5 minutes before they called him back-typical right?

Before Surgery -wearing a dress!

The next part is one of the worst things you have to do as a parent....stand there helping to hold down your child while they gas them to sleep and their eyes roll back in their head. UGH! Awful. The nurse then said "he can't hear you now you can go down the hall". What? He can't hear me? Did you give him too much gas? Anyway watching his eyes roll back in his head is no good.

Since Travis had this done when he was little I knew that it would only be a few minutes until the doctor came back to tell me it was done and sure it enough it was maybe 5 minutes tops. He said it went well and they were waking him up right then. A few minutes later they took me back to recovery and handed me a crying floppy blanket-I mean a crying floppy Brody. I knew to expect this part too-it's very hard for them to "come out" of the fog. His crying only lasted until he got a bottle of juice. He chugged that until it was empty--they asked if I brought a snack and I had so he proceeded to cram a TON of puffs in his mouth. You would think he hadn't eaten in a week! It is only 8am at this point btw--LOL. After 30 minutes in recovery we were told we could go home!

Brody was 100% his normal cheerful self all day after that-it was like it had never happened! Here's to an ear infection free 2011!

After surgery at home! 100% fine!

7:50am Friday

Tomorrow morning my sweet Brody bear goes into surgery to get tubes put in his ears. Thankfully we have been down this road before with Travis and are more or less prepared for what this entails. Here's to an ear infection free 2011! :)

Waiting at the ENT

Brody is getting tubes in his ears in January! The poor kid has had either an ear infection and/or fluid in his ears since August! Travis' tubes were a lifesaver and I'm sure these will be too! He did enjoy playing in the lobby when we were there this am!