When we first met the Pediatric ENT at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, my first thought was, “This GIRL is going to take care of my boy?” She was probably 30 or so, definitely not pushing 40 like Old Mom here. And she kept focusing on the croup instead of the ear infections. Sweet Boy had already had eight ear infections and developed an immunity to Amoxicillin. His pediatrician hadn’t mentioned that the four cases of croup could be a problem. Clearly, she was too young to know what was really important. She asked if she could do a bronchoscopy when she did the surgery to put in his ear tubes. Sure. He’s out anyway.
#1’s surgery was booked for six weeks later. He got another ear infection in that time, and my exhaustion turned into some serious nastiness. I was so stressed about getting his tubes. They couldn’t do the procedure if he had an infection, and the infections just kept coming.
Surgery Day, the Ear Tubes go in
Six weeks passed and surgery day arrived. Poor kiddo couldn’t eat breakfast and there really isn’t a good way to explain that to a 15-month-old. They got my hungry, cranky boy prepped and we all glanced around the pre-op area. Some of those kids were really sick. Really, really sick. So hungry boy screamed for food, and we just hugged him close, thankful that we were here for ear tubes and not something more.
About an hour after he went in, the doctor came out to talk to us. I had to eat my humble pie. The tubes went in nicely, but Young Doctor found two problems during that scope, and they really weren’t playing nice together. Sweet Boy had acid reflux and a cleft in his larynx (ya, that’s pretty rare). The 15 months of sleepless nights were because he was in pain. It all started at 6 months because that’s when he started eating solid food (although we still call that day care “The Germ Factory”). The ear infections were so frequent because his stomach acid just pooled in his throat and the fluid in his ears had no place to go. He didn’t present like a typical reflux patient because the cleft kept him from vomiting (although after having #2, maybe #1 did have excessive spit up).
It all made sense. He started taking reflux meds and FINALLY, he started sleeping (I think Handel himself may have heard me singing “Hallelujah”). She would repair the cleft in a future surgery.
Connecticut Children’s
To date, Sweet Boy has had three surgeries at Connecticut Children’s. He has also seen the aero-digestive team for a team approach to his medical issues. We have always been incredibly happy with his care at this hospital. Whether its giving him a stuffed bear after surgery or a set of Duplo Blocks
Summer vacation started a few weeks after his first surgery and this old mom enjoyed every moment with her toddler. For three whole months, I was rested. Then came #2….
Photo by Internet Archive Book Images