Bionic Ears

Like many small children, Andy has had some ear infections. The problem isn't so much that he gets these ear infection, but when he get one, they are antibiotic resistant. As a microbiologist, I find this ironic, and annoying. Andy had his first ear infection of the season in November, and continued until right after Christmas. At that point, we were referred to an ENT.

The ENT took one look in Andy's ears and said, "tubes, and possible adenoids." Her theory was that the adnenoids were inflammed and not allowing any of the fluid to drain out of the ear. As a result, an antibiotic would work to clear an infection, but since the fluid couldn't drain, an antibiotic-resistant strain would develop. We scheduled surgery for the beginning of January.

There was some pre-op work to be done, with priority #1 being to get the money out of the way. Does anyone think it is funny how you will meet with the doctor and they make you fill out a form saying how much you will pay them, but say nothing of the other people you will also owe money too? And then when you ask them, they give you no help to find out this information? So, this is my blog, and as a service to others, I want to let you know that our cost for this will be around TWO. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. This was quite a shock. a)this is a pretty routine surgery, you are telling me that everyone pays this TWO. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. and b)this is the aproximate amount that we paid for Andy's birth. Yes, producing a human, and putting tubes in is the same. We debated a long time about whether to actually have the surgery. In the end, it was the possible adenoids and Andy's constant whiny nature that sealed the deal.

The hardest part of the surgery is that Andy couldn't eat or drink anything that morning. He really wanted his chocolate milk! He was still upset on the way:

But again, he is really always like this.

Here is Andy in his hospital gown. It was way to big:


He was trying to take off his bracelet:


He was in good spirits before hand. He played around with daddy:


Then they came to get him, he was immediately suspicious. They had us put him in a wagon. That didn't go well. He will probably never get into another wagon again!

The surgery took longer than I expected. It was about 45 minutes before the doctor came to tell us anything. In one ear, Andy had fluid with a jello like consistancy. In the other ear, it was pus-like. Now, keep in mind we had just finished a round of bactrim. They drained the ears, and removed the adenoids. After that it was another 15 minutes before they took us back to see him. He just wanted to cuddle up:


On the way home, we got him a milkshake, but he was still pissed!


That night, I heard "mommy, mommy!" I said, "here I am James!" but it was Andy. His speech had already changed. He has definately added many words to his vocabulary since then. How ever, he still is pretty cranky. Instead of "uuuuuh, uuuuhhhhhhhhh!!!!" all day, its "mooooooommmmmmy, mooommmmmmmyyyyyy!"