Hellobee Boards

We were able to get DD in for her tubes between Cheistmas and New Year's last year. I think her consultation was closer to Halloween or the beginning of November. She was 2.5 at the time and had a pretty severe speech delay. I don't recall her having an ear infection since but she has had 1-2 sinus infections. Happy to report that her speech has totally caught up with the expectations for 3.5 year olds. The surgery was easy and quick. We are extremely pleased with the results!

My DD had tubes put in at 11 months. She was sleepy and a little fussy the rest of that day, then completely fine after that. She'd had six ear infections in seven months before the tubes, and none after them. Hers fell out a year after they got put in and she got another ear infection, so she got new ones put in and again they've been totally fine.

The procedure is super short. They put them under light anesthesia and I want to say it took like 20-30 minutes.

Best thing EVER!!!

We had our consult in Mid January (with the ENT) after 7 ear infections (like you I think the fluid never went away for the last 2-3). K was 18 mos when she had it done.

We had surgery scheduled for first week in Feb (2-3 weeks later) and unfortunately had to cancel bc of course K got the stomach flu the night before. Re-scheduled for the next week.

Overall - it was a great experience. We had ours done at a local hospital (had to choose between hospital and surgical center) and they had a phenomenal childrens surgery center. They prepped K for about 1-1.5hrs, the anesthesiologist came and spoke to us - he informed us that he would come get her when they were ready...she also had a nurse that would stay with her the whole time (the constant). He offered that we could have a pro-longed "goodbye" and hope she stops crying (which he warned us was inevitable) or he can rip the bandaid and just walk her away while she was crying. We asked his opinion - he said "if she is going to cry when I come to take her - prolonging it wont make her stop". We opted to follow his advice and rip the band-aid.

He came and took K a while later, she cried, I held it together mostly. Once she was out of the room and we packed up and made our way to the waiting room. Literally we were not in the room 10 mins and the Dr came and told us it was over and all was well. She said as soon as she comes to - someone will come get us. Kids can be very agitated coming out of the anesthesia so they recommended letting her wake up first before we came back.

We stayed in recovery long enough for K to settle (took about 10 mins) and to have her eat some crackers and hold them down. We went home and just let her lay low for the day. She was fine and went back to daycare the next day.

The improvement was not immediate and she did not startle easily (as the ENT had warned she could). She did have discharge for 2-3 days (real bad after the first night) I would say 3-4 months out we started to notice more words, now 8 mos out she is a crazy talker - so much improvement!

We have had no more ear infections. We did find out that one tub has fallen out and one is on its way out. Our ENT suggested that she only does replacement tubes in 5% of patients. Usually when they fall out its because the tube has matured sufficiently.

@MamaG: You will be SO thankful you are getting this done. It has been AMAZING.

The surgery will be so quick you will barely have time to sit down and they will call you to go get her. When you first see her it can be a little unsettling, (J flopped around a lot and cried, but no more than a tantrum) its seems like forever but it will be quick.

She can even have the surgery with an active ear infection and they will "clear it out."

We got home, ate lunch and my guy took like a 3 or 4 hour nap and then was playing like nothing had happened.

We have had one ear infection since and we could treat it locally with the drops leftover from the surgery, and it was cleared up in 3-5 days.

You will be SO happy once you get through the anticipation of the surgery. Good luck!!

@HazelEyes: Totally agree with everything you said, the tubes are wonderful and it was over in a blink of an eye.

my LO got his at 9 months, he has fluid buildup that doesn't drain without them - but they have made the infections so easy to deal with.

@MamaG: The only wisdom I'd pass on is that the drops can feel cold in the ear... so there may be some squirming.

@MamaG: I never have, but we keep it at room temp. I imagine it must feel weird at first, especially since you can't really warn them its coming (I tried, but he just looked at me all confused). When we did drops for his ear infection two weeks ago - he didn't even flinch.

@MtnBiker: @MamaG: good point, I always make sure to put the drops in my pocket or my fist for a little bit before giving them. A nurse at his follow up told us to do that. It made a BIG difference. Its not as shocking/painful.