Ears, Ears, EARS

For a while, Henry was very fond of The Ear Book.

Ears, ears, EARS.  We like our ears.  It's good, it's good to hear with ears.

Well, Henry's ears have not been super cooperative lately.

 

{"Let's get out of here, Mom"}

We are on I think our 4th, 5th, or 6th ear infection of 2015.  I honestly can't remember.  It's at least his 4th.  (Another reason blogging has been scarce)  What's super frustrating is that the ear infections ARE clearing up in between, but the fluid isn't going away.  Which means we end up with another ear infection like 2 weeks after we finish antibiotics.

A quick tip about antibiotics: Augmentin (which they have prescribed for Henry on multiple occasions) is the chalky looking white liquid with a super sweet smell.  I mentioned on facebook that Henry was having a hard time taking this medicine, a friend of mine told me that it isn't flavored and that the pharmacy can flavor it for you (I can't taste it because I'm allergic to it).  So I paid $3 and had Walgreen's add some bubble gum flavor.  Ever since, he has taken it like a champ.  Totally worth the $3.  Also, we have noticed that giving Henry yogurt twice a day and putting diaper rash cream on constantly helped keep those side effects from getting horrible.

Henry comes by his bad eustachian tubes naturally.  I had chronic ear infections, with tubes at 8 months and then again when I was about 8.  My dad had horrible ear infections as a kid and subsequently has horrible hearing.  I think he got his first set of hearing aids at 40.  I KNOW my hearing has suffered because of all the ear infections I had, and that is definitely not something I want for Henry.  Not to mention, I have vivid memories of them being super painful.

Since we have DEFINITELY passed the pediatric's benchmark of "4 ear infections in 6 months", we were headed to the ENT for a consultation regarding ear tubes.  Well, us and 2 convicts.  There's something really strange about sitting in a waiting room with your toddler and then having 2 guys in full on shackles shuffling into the waiting room.  They were accompanied by officers from the penitentiary, so I am sure their crimes were non-violent (yeah right).

Anyway... Henry is getting some ear tubes.  This is how he felt about it:

Phil and I feel the complete opposite.  For so many reasons, I am excited for Henry's ears to get some relief.  For one, the audiologist said he is showing signs of hearing loss (which will go away after the tubes are in and the fluid around his ear drums drains).

For the time being, we are currently waiting to get his surgery scheduled.  It is kind of funny because the clinic has online patient charts and portals, I filled out all the paperwork online, Henry's pediatrician and the ENT office sent his chart back and forth electronically.  But to get his surgery scheduled, we have to wait for a letter in the mail.  Once we get the letter, then I can call and schedule his surgery.  A letter in the mail?  Might as well be waiting for the pony express.  I have been wondering how many ear infections he will have while we wait for his surgery date.  So far, the tally is up to 1.

Also, Henry weighs 30 lbs 2.5 oz as of yesterday.  If you were to assume he was a 2 year old (which he is getting close to being), with his height and his weight, the CDC would label him as obese.

Which just seems funny to me.  He's not obese.  There's a slight chance I got his height wrong for this.  I certainly wouldn't call him obese.

Because Henry is a bigger guy (I won't call him obese because he is not), the pharmacist usually won't fill his prescription right away.  They always want to confirm his weight because they think the dose will be too high for a child of his age.  I guess they trust my memory more than the doctor's prescription.