Alex's Ear Tubes

Over the past year, Alex has had 6 ear infections. Once the 6th came and went, we decided it was time to sit down with an ENT doc to discuss tubes. Turns out, Alex had a bunch of sludgy fluid in his ear, leftover from one of the infections; this fluid was continuously becoming infected, and was probably causing a 20% hearing loss in the ear (I knew it wasn't totally selective hearing!). The doctor advised tubes, and we wholeheartedly agreed to the procedure.

The appointment took place on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Seth was officially on vacation for the week, and made a comment on the drive home from the doctor's office about how nice it would be if they could get the surgery done while he was still on break. No more than an hour later, the surgery center called and said they had an opening first thing on Wednesday morning. Great timing!

The surgery went very well - the surgery center staff and nurses were awesome with the kids, turning everything into a game, and letting the boys take over the televisions (sorry, other people who were having surgery that morning). Seth was able to carry Alex back to the OR, while Zach and I made our way to the waiting area. Seth had joined us, and we'd barely settled into the comfy chairs (I'd barely even updated my Facebook status to say Alex was in surgery), when the nurse came out and said the procedure was over. The doc came out a minute or two later; everything went smoothly (and quickly - 15 minutes!), and he was in recovery.

The rest of the day consisted of movies on the couch, and lots of get well presents from everyone. By the next day, you'd have never guessed he had just had surgery. It's been a couple of months, and his check-ups have been great. Thank you, Dr. Z!