[kzwief]

Kate saw the ENT today. She needs to get tubes as her she is only hearing things at about 40 decibels. So, normal conversation is difficult for her to hear. I was shocked because I always thought she heard fine. Although DH and I tend to speak loudly. Her speech is ok, she has some pronunciation problems, but I always figured that was just because she just turned 2.

Anyways, I set up the surgery for 5/27. Can anyone give me any advice. He says Kate should be feeling pretty good the next day and will be able to go back to school. I just need some reassurance.

[hml1976]

Its super easy. My son's surgery was a whopping 6 min

He was up and fully recovered in 30 minutes and that was it. No biggie at all and REALLY helped with his ear infections.

[TerriBB]

AJ had his first set the day before his first birthday. They did them early in the a.m. and he was running around the yard, chasing his soccer ball by noon. He went back to school the next day.

When his ears did get infected, there were only drops. (The antibiotics were just killing his stomach...he started having blood in his stool...this is what pushed us to the tubes.)

He had a lot fewer ear infections. They fell out and he got the second pair 1.5 years later, at 2.5 years.

It will be fine!

[MamaS]

Originally Posted by kzwief

Kate should be feeling pretty good the next day and will be able to go back to school.

Spiderman got tubes Friday morning, played soccer Saturday morning, went to church Sunday morning and went to school Monday morning. Did not have another ear infection for 18 months. (As opposed to 3 per month before tubes!)

[mcnay1]

One of the best things we did for our son! It is an easy proceedure. We were in the surgical center at about 6:00 and a home by 9:00. He ate breakfast, watched a few cartoons and was himself by the afternoon. He has had only 2 ear infections since and the procedure was 2 1/2 years ago.

Tips? Be prepared that when Kate comes out of anestesia, she could be "madder than a bear with bees." JD had a hard time with the anestesia taking effect and was wide awake when they took him back (I think that was harder on me than him). I was there when he woke up but he was MAD. Once he got some water in him and woke up a bit, he was much better. Kate will be fine though.

[mommytoEli]

i'm such a fan of ear tubes...i just hate when they come out. lol. the actual procedure was never a big deal here....when ds comes out of it, he's calm and docile the rest of the day and usually can't walk straight for half a day or so...so i always have to be careful to carry him around.....so that we don't end up BACK in the OR after a fall....lol....but the next day, everything is back to business as usual. ds had ear tubes for most of his life, so he got really used to wearing the ear plugs for bath time and swimming. the ONE down fall is that now that he has no tubes, and no need for ear plugs, he FREAKS if you get one drop of water in his ear. i wonder how he will ever learn to swim without plugs. lol.

[mevertin]

My oldest had 2 sets of tubes-1st at 9 months. He had been through almost every antibiotic before the tubes. I remember holding him as they put him under, I walked to the waiting room, sat down with my newspaper and looked up and the doctor was standing there saying everything went just fine. It was probably 5 or 6 minutes max. He was a little crabby coming out of the anesthesia but seemed just fine the rest of the day. He went about 18 months with only 1 infection. He got his second set at 21/2, everything went just as smoothly. He had those tubes removed at about 41/2. He has probably had 2 or 3 ear infections between 4 and 12. My youngest daughter had tubes at 12 months. She had a few more infections as a preschooler and only 1 as a big kid. Our ENT had us do earplugs when my oldest was a baby, but by the time my son had his second set the doctor said there was no benefit to earplugs so we have never used them since (or for my daughter). It is scary to think about putting your little one under, but in my opinion the benefits are amazing.
Mary
mom to Bobby 12, Bridget 10, Angela 8, Eddie 4 (home from Guatemala in 2005) and Naldo 22 months (home since Feb. 08)

[Hopingsoon]

John screamed for 45 minutes coming out of anesthesia, and really didn't stop until he got into his car seat. Once we got home from the hospital, he drank some juice, took a three hour nap, woke up hungry, and was fine the rest of the day. He had a couple of instances of discharge, and we had to keep antibiotic drops on hand, but other than that, no problems. I thought his speech was fine before (well, as fine as a 20 month olds can be), but we noticed a drastic improvement right after the tubes went in.

[netmon]

Maggie came home at 8 1/2 months old and started daycare at 11 months old. She had her first ear infection that first week of daycare and they continued along with every illness you can think of. We finally got referred to the ENT when she was 14 months old. The ENT labelled her speech delayed, but was not sure because of the change in language. However we did a hearing test and I was shocked to find out that she had moderate hearing loss. She had ear tubes placed and never had another ear infection. She is 4 years old now. It seemed to also be the end of her getting every illness that she was exposed to as well. Magic cure for us!

Surgery was simple. I held her till she was asleep and was there when she woke up. She woke up ate and drank and we were in the car 45 minutes after waking up. She slept on the way home and was her normal self that afternoon. Her ears had been full of pus so we had to put drops in a few times a day for a week or so. She did not like that and I had to papoose her to get them in. She had a new word on the way home in the car and her speech took off after that. By 1 month later, her hearing was totally normal. Our ENT also did not believe in ear plugs except for bath time/shampoo. He said he felt that it was the soap that changed the surface tension and that was the culprit in making the tubes fall out. Maggie's tubes fell out about 15 and 18 months later.

BTW, she woke up easily and calmly from anesthesia for her ear tubes, but she needed anesthesia for an hour surgery when she was 2 1/2 and she was crazed when she woke up. Angry, irritable and inconsolable for about 30 minutes.

Good luck.

[Carrie7310]

Tubes were a miracle for my daughter. She had them put in when she was 10 months. She had an ear infection a month before that-she has only had one since then and she is over 2 now. We have never used ear plugs. The surgery was a few minutes long, she was crabby for a little bit and then did great the rest of the day. Hopefully you will have the same result.

[tweets_4611]

My little brother had tubes put in twice. The first time was on his birthday...his first birthday I guess. I don't remember him ever using ear plugs, but he's always been weird about water in his ears and been very careful about it. Those fell out and he got another set right around another one of his birthdays (second, third??) He didn't have hardly any ear infections after he got them.

[w8ting4Thomas]

Thomas came home at 10 months. He had about 8 ear infections in a VERY short time. He had tubes in Nov. 08. They have worked miracles for him!!! He has not even been sick one time since having them.
He also screamed for about an hour after waking up. I was surprised because he had his circumcision about 6 months before and did fine with the anesthesia. I assume it was different anesthesia, though, and being 6 months older could have contributed to it too!
She will do fine and should be back to herself later that day even!

[Ms.Judi]

TUBES ARE AWESOME!!!!
The proecdure is so simple and Elaina was up and around in no time. She also did not get sick after she had her tubes and she is in child care. That says ALOT!!! GOOD LUCK!!

[bethy724]

My son had tubes @ 13 months & hasn't had an ear infection since (he's 5!)

It's literally a 15 minute surgery & he was groggy after & I kept him out of school the next day but probably only because he was still a "baby" (to me anyway)

[TeeTee]

My dd got tubes when she was 11 months old...helped her tremendously!!!!!! The surgery was not a big deal at all! I was worried b/c I didn't know what to expect but I was pleasently surprised at how minor the whole procedure really is!! We were told she would be irritable afterwards, she wasn't at all! She hasn't had another ear infection, not even one...and she is now 2 yrs old!

Everything will be fine and you and Kate will feel so much better!!