Max's Tubes

At Max's 18 month old check up, I was concerned that he wasn't talking.  My pediatrician recommended that I get a hearing and speech test done.  I waited about 2 months to take him in thinking that he would talk soon, but he never did.  He had so much fluid in his ears that the hearing test was incomplete, but they did determine that he had some hearing loss.  We then treated him for yet another ear infection and was finally recommended to visit an Ear-Nose-Throat doctor who could give him tubes.  So after about a two month wait to get seen by the ENT and schedule a surgery time, we finally got his tubes put in today!!!

Here's Max in the waiting room before his surgery checking out his cool wrist tag.  He couldn't have anything to eat or drink this morning so we left the house a little early so he didn't have to watch Mabel and Sam eat breakfast.  Nick took the day off and stayed home with Mabel and Sam.  Max and I stopped at Target to do some shopping to waste some time before his surgery.  We checked in about 9:00 a.m. and left by 11:45 a.m.

Max got his own little hospital gown and fancy hospital socks.  He was really scared of all the people and so they had to give him a little oral sedative to help him relax just so they could sedate him all the way. 

Here's Max fighting the oral sedative.  Once it kicked in, they brought a little wagon and Max let me lay him comfortably inside as they rolled him away.  I had enough time to go to the restroom, eat a complimentary pastry, and call Nick (about 10 minutes total) when they told me they were done.  He had more junk in his ears today which they cleaned out before inserting the tiny tubes into his eardrum.  Max then slept another 30-40 min. before they finally called my back.  Max was pretty angry coming out of it.  He was thirsty and just wanted to drink.  They let him have two small cups of juice, but didn't want him to throw up, so once the juice was gone, Max was thrashing around, throwing toys, and inconsolable.  I guess he was causing enough of a racket that they told us that he would probably be better at home.  As soon as we got to the car, I gave him a juice cup I had hidden away.  By the time we got home, he was laughing and giggling in a somewhat delirious manner.  I put him down to walk up to the house, and he nearly fell over about 3-4 times.  We ate lunch and he seemed more steady on his feet afterwards.  He is down for a nap now and resting comfortably.  

We've heard several people who have had their kids get tubes say that their kids start speaking much better within a couple of weeks.  We are hoping that the same is true with Max.  Even the ENT doctor thinks this will help him speak better.  Most of all, we're excited the the ear infection problem should be a little easier to keep a handle on.    We are so happy for Max and hope this will fix his biggest problem, not being able to hear very well!  We love you, little guy!