Ear Infections...Ear Tubes

This past week, my little E underwent his first surgery. He got tubes in his ears at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Let me give you a little background. E got his first ear infection around February when his first teeth started to come in. This seemed to happen every time E was teething. He seemed to never get rid of the infection fully in his right ear especially. This meant that E was on several different antibiotics over a course of about 4-6 months. I was not a fan of having my son on antibiotics at all, let alone so many antibiotics in such a short period of time.

We both see a chiropractor once a week. Dr. Stephanie at Bright Futures Family Chiropractic was very helpful and would adjust his ears. She would give me suggestions to try with his diet to help prevent future infections. Some of these suggestions were to remove dairy and gluten out of his diet, as these can cause inflammation within the body. 

We did try the suggestions from Dr. Stephanie but the infections continued. After doing a lot of research on ear tubes, my husband and I decided the best option was to have E get tubes. He was pulling at his ears again shortly after his latest round of antibiotics, so I made an appointment with the pediatrician. I didn't see our normal NP but I was planning on asking for a consultation with ENT if one wasn't suggested. The doctor looked in his ears, and prescribed another antibiotic along with a consultation with ENT.

It was very quick for us to get in for the consult and Dr. Shott agreed that the ear tubes were the best course of action. So we scheduled a date for surgery, 8 days before E's first birthday. 

Surgery was on Friday and E is a completely different boy just days after his surgery. He is very talkative and energetic now. It is also obvious that E is enjoying hearing himself by making very loud sounds, almost as if he is excited to hear himself clearly for the first time. He is also laughing a lot more, which is the best sound to hear as a mom.