ear tubes
ear tubes
After 5 weeks of battling an ear infection that won't go away, our little girl is going to have a tube inserted and her kitarisa (adenoid?) removed next week. I know we're in good hands but of course I'm a bit anxious and nervous. Just wanted to see if anyone else has had their child go through this and what was your experience like?
saving chimpanzees is a big hairy deal
Both of mine had tubes, the other one actually had those three times when old ones melted (or something like that). I was just happy, because I surely would have needed those when I was little. I had a zillion painful ear infections, so I suppose it is hereditary.
All was ages ago, and I just remember how anxious I was. In those times that was not done before the child was 3 years old, so they had to go through 10+ infections before help arrived. Thank god it is not like that nowadays. I just remember how a 3-year-old behaves when s/he is intoxicated while waying the operation, and the relief when those hundreds of sleepless nights with a crying baby ended.
All was ages ago, and I just remember how anxious I was. In those times that was not done before the child was 3 years old, so they had to go through 10+ infections before help arrived. Thank god it is not like that nowadays. I just remember how a 3-year-old behaves when s/he is intoxicated while waying the operation, and the relief when those hundreds of sleepless nights with a crying baby ended.
Well, what I'm wondering about most is how quickly will she be okay after the procedure and the eating part. She's only 13 months old. She has ice-cream now and then but she'll only take 2 spoons max. So I don't think ice-cream will be giving her much relief 
. I just saw my friend get through his tonsils removed and he's been really ill and cranky as hell, though he's like 40.
. I just saw my friend get through his tonsils removed and he's been really ill and cranky as hell, though he's like 40.saving chimpanzees is a big hairy deal
I had to look from a dictionary, because thee are these two things in Finnish (kitarisat and nielurisat), and I knew only one English word for those: tonsils. My dictionary gives pharyngeal tonsil for nielurisat and palatine tonsil for kitarisat. And it is this palatine tonsil that gets removed in the tube operation, pharyngeal usually still stays there.
It is way more difficult when one is an adult or a teenager. This "three times tubes" hero had his pharyngeal tonsils removed when he was nearly seventeen, and had massive bleeding and difficulties in recovering. But as a three-year-old he was in full speed after just a couple of days.
I just thought: Why did I just feed them icecream? Why didn´t I make purées from different foods and just cool them in a freezer? Oh, well.
It is way more difficult when one is an adult or a teenager. This "three times tubes" hero had his pharyngeal tonsils removed when he was nearly seventeen, and had massive bleeding and difficulties in recovering. But as a three-year-old he was in full speed after just a couple of days.
I just thought: Why did I just feed them icecream? Why didn´t I make purées from different foods and just cool them in a freezer? Oh, well.
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smilesalot
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I thought just the opposite they now know that the tonsils are an important immune system support and now days in the states they will try everything else before removing the tonsils , as we grow older other immune enhancing organs have matured so the tonsils are not as significant. But if you do by chance get an life threatening infection they can make a difference.Hank W. wrote:The tube thing is pretty common these days isn't it?
(I had a tonsillectomy at age 20 and I surely wished I had that done as a kid)
RA the purpose of the tubes is to help drain the ears, if you didn't know already. As you have heard most kids adapt quickly while others don't. The human body is an incredible machine adapting to all kinds of stressors in our environment. Heres a link that describes PE tubes They will recommend also that your child wear ear plugs when swimming, I think one would also use cotton when using the sauna.
If that doesn't work there are some natural alternatives one could try as well as dietary changes that would definitely resolve your child's ear infections.
smilesalot
He who takes medicine and neglects to diet wastes the skill of his doctors
Chinese proverb
Yes, there have been lots of studies to show links between chronic ear,nose, throat infections and diet (allergies and food intolerances). But it is a long haul project to identify the trigger foods, especially if there are no other symptons. The two major families involved are (1) dairy products (2) wheat. You could try excluding ALL dairy for a couple of weeks to see what happens (but it has to be strict 100% exclusion to be conclusive) and then do the same with wheat. Two weeks is usually enough to see any positive effects, sometimes the result is obvious after only 3 or 4 days.
Just before I moved to Finland (5 years ago) I was told I needed to have my tonsils removed due to persistant throat infections. I was told it would be done by laser.... which does not cause all the problems that regular surgery does. The doctor told me that the operation is extremely easy and almost painless for children but rather unpleasant for adults. Anyway I refused and haven't had an infection since (I was having 3-4 per year), probably due to the office environment I was working in.
My godaughter has grommets (tubes) and seemed to have frequent return visits to the doctor/hospital when they fell out or disappeared. She couldn't go swimming for a while either. She also had her tonsils and adenoids removed. But it did seem to improve the ear infections a little. She is now 13 yrs and has really bad allergies (ended up in hospital when they came to Finland a few years ago, probably birch or grass pollen). So there is clearly an immune problem there somewhere.
Just before I moved to Finland (5 years ago) I was told I needed to have my tonsils removed due to persistant throat infections. I was told it would be done by laser.... which does not cause all the problems that regular surgery does. The doctor told me that the operation is extremely easy and almost painless for children but rather unpleasant for adults. Anyway I refused and haven't had an infection since (I was having 3-4 per year), probably due to the office environment I was working in.
My godaughter has grommets (tubes) and seemed to have frequent return visits to the doctor/hospital when they fell out or disappeared. She couldn't go swimming for a while either. She also had her tonsils and adenoids removed. But it did seem to improve the ear infections a little. She is now 13 yrs and has really bad allergies (ended up in hospital when they came to Finland a few years ago, probably birch or grass pollen). So there is clearly an immune problem there somewhere.
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Hank W.
- The Motorhead
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I thought just the opposite they now know that the tonsils are an important immune system support
I had my throat swell up, heck, my tonsils were swollen up on a good day, and when the uvula got inflamed as well I puked my guts out in a flu, as the gag reflex set in...
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
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smilesalot
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All I can say is yuck, only people I would wish that on are the spammers that
not only infiltrate my email but forums and bbs's (except for Monty Python and the spam song)
I guess you could be the exception.
smilesalot
If life is like a box of chocolates, then its time for me to buy another box, I seemed to have already devoured all the good ones!
not only infiltrate my email but forums and bbs's (except for Monty Python and the spam song)
I guess you could be the exception.
smilesalot
If life is like a box of chocolates, then its time for me to buy another box, I seemed to have already devoured all the good ones!
Done! It went very well and my brave little girl didn't even cry as much as I thought she would. They ended up putting plugs in both ears and took out the adenoid.
She had some sort of wierd reaction to the anaesthesia and didn't get up when she was supposed to. It took them an hour to get her up. We were waiting and didn't really know what was taking so long (now I'm thinking thank god we didn't know because I'd have been freaking out).
They kept us there till noon and then after they were satisfied she was more or less okay and ate ( refused the ice-cream and juice, but drank milk and ate the ruusunmarja puree), they let us go home and now she's sleeping and should be okay in a couple of days. We can't go swimming or to the sauna for a week and then she has to wear these plugs they made for her to help keep the ears dry. Tomorrow she can start eating more or less normally. Now for some zzzzzz's.
She had some sort of wierd reaction to the anaesthesia and didn't get up when she was supposed to. It took them an hour to get her up. We were waiting and didn't really know what was taking so long (now I'm thinking thank god we didn't know because I'd have been freaking out).
They kept us there till noon and then after they were satisfied she was more or less okay and ate ( refused the ice-cream and juice, but drank milk and ate the ruusunmarja puree), they let us go home and now she's sleeping and should be okay in a couple of days. We can't go swimming or to the sauna for a week and then she has to wear these plugs they made for her to help keep the ears dry. Tomorrow she can start eating more or less normally. Now for some zzzzzz's.
saving chimpanzees is a big hairy deal
RA
if she had a reaction to the anaesthetic then you should ask for a full report and find out which anaesthetic was used. Then next time she needs surgery (even for a tooth whatever) make sure you tell the surgeon she had a reaction when she had her ear op and tell him/her what anaesthetic she reacted to.
Allergic reactions to anaesthetics are very common and can be avoided easily by changing the anaesthetic used. The trouble with these kinds of allergies is that each time the person has the anaesthetic the reaction gets MUCH worse. I have a friend who, after three trips to the dentist (and each time she had worsening symptoms), collapsed at home (anaphylactic shock) and was rushed into hospital.
Anyway, great news that the adenoids are out without too much bother and the tubes are in!!!! You should notice a difference in her general health almost straight away (less colds, runny nose etc).
if she had a reaction to the anaesthetic then you should ask for a full report and find out which anaesthetic was used. Then next time she needs surgery (even for a tooth whatever) make sure you tell the surgeon she had a reaction when she had her ear op and tell him/her what anaesthetic she reacted to.
Allergic reactions to anaesthetics are very common and can be avoided easily by changing the anaesthetic used. The trouble with these kinds of allergies is that each time the person has the anaesthetic the reaction gets MUCH worse. I have a friend who, after three trips to the dentist (and each time she had worsening symptoms), collapsed at home (anaphylactic shock) and was rushed into hospital.
Anyway, great news that the adenoids are out without too much bother and the tubes are in!!!! You should notice a difference in her general health almost straight away (less colds, runny nose etc).
