On Monday L.J. had tubes put in his ears. With four double-ear infections under his belt since December, the ENT doctor decided that L.J. was a good candidate for the procedure.
Several parents in the Infant rooms in school have asked me how doctors determine if a child needs tubes. I can only speak to what one doctor said with regards to one child, but our ENT said that the baseline is 3 infections in 6 months or 4 in a year. If a child meets that criteria, they look at other factors (age, severity, when they occur, etc.) to determine if tubes would be beneficial.
The only part of the surgery I was concerned about was the “no eating or drinking after midnight part.” Fortunately, it turned out to be a non-issue. L.J. slept in the morning of the surgery, so we were able to get him up and load him straight into the car. We arrived at the outpatient surgery center at 8 a.m. The waiting room had plenty of kiddie toys, so L.J. was easily distracted by a play house and several other things. Whew!
There was a lot of protocol that had to be followed once we arrived – check in, pre-op preparation, surgery and post-op. We were there for almost three hours even though the surgery itself took only a few minutes.
Once we completed pre-op (vital signs) we were taken to an individual waiting room. Being a pediatric center, they were well thought-out, with a sliding door that closed (no escaping toddlers) and toys/tv to keep kids occupied.
I went back into the OR with L.J. for his anesthesia – just a mask – and then was directed to the post-op area. The outpatient surgery center is in a medical building next to the hospital (same building where L.J. got his helmet). It was a little jarring to be in a medical building, then walk back to an area that was more hospital-like, and then walk into a full-fledged pediatric operating room.
The procedure itself was very quick. Less than 10 minutes. The doctor stopped by afterward and told me everything went fine. He said that L.J.’s left ear was full of “ear glue” – it was very blocked and definitely impacting his hearing. He said that L.J. should start hearing properly out of that ear now that it had been cleaned out and a tube inserted.
After that the nurses wheeled L.J. back to the post-op room where I was waiting. He barely took up any room on the big hospital bed! The nurses took his vitals and then we waited for him to wake up, which only took a few minutes.
He was so confused and groggy when he woke up. I held him close and rocked him, but he still cried for almost 10 minutes. And it took a few minutes for him to open his eyes. Once he was a little more alert I offered him a cup of his favorite juice. He was very happy about that, and started to relax and calm down. We rocked for a few more minutes, got our discharge instructions and were on our way.
(Mike was with us, but decided during the pre-op that he would fare much better in the car. He gets points for trying!)
L.J. was groggy most of the day and took several long naps. He played quietly the rest of the time. Certainly not his usual energetic self! Monday night he was up all. night. long. It was horrible for all of us! I don’t know if he had slept too much, wasn’t feeling well or what.
The good news is that other than Monday night, we’ve seen no other ill effects from the surgery. His teachers said that he is definitely hearing/listening better and also starting to talk a whole lot more! We’re starting to see this at home, too.
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