Tubes, Tonsils & Adenoids

Here we go again. We had an appointment with Jacob’s ENT yesterday and low and behold he has to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. I’m upset and relieved in some ways. Upset because the thought of putting my baby through more trauma in his short little life is not high on my lists of things to do, but I’m relieved because this may change everything for him, but let me back up a bit.

About 3 weeks ago we discovered that Jacob had a mucus plug in one of his tubes (say it with me, “ewww”) Anyway, the doctor tried to push the plug through, but Jacob was not exactly cooperating. Of course I don’t know many three year olds who would sit still and let someone poke a long metal stick in their ear, heck I’m not sure I could do it without flinching a bit. So when that failed we tried injected an ointment into Jacob ear canal, hoping it would soften the plug and that it would slide through. He was also treated with antibiotic (oral and ear drops), but to no avail. Actually, the tube fell out (crap). So the next step was to test his hearing, and guess what, yep, he can’t hear in the ear that is now missing a tube. . . soooooooooo, we started talking about other issues, such as his sleep apnea and snoring, etc. Jacob, just like me, has HUGE tonsils, and while mine always gave me strep, Jacob’s tonsils are making it difficult for him to breathe properly. When he is asleep, he tosses, turns, snores, stops breathing, tosses some more, turns upside down. . . it’s a wonder he doesn’t wake up dizzy. I mentioned all of this to the doctor and he decides maybe the best thing for Jacob, not just his ears, but for his speech as well, is to remove his adenoids and tonsils, and while he's in there he may put the tube back in. I agree that this may well be the thing that helps Jacob turn a corner, but my poor kid has been through so much in his short, little life. He was born early and had to have a spinal tap, he spent a week in the hospital being pumped full of antibiotics at birth, he’s had ear infection after ear infection, which lead to the tube surgery, which was horrible, and now this.

When this is all over I may have different thoughts and views, but right now it pains me to think about this poor child having more surgery.

UGH!