And the verdict is....

As I wrote earlier in the month, we were going to take Liam to see a specialist in Scottsdale for is frequent ear infections.  Well that appointment was on Friday.  I was praying, crossing my fingers and toes that Dr. Raines would tell us it was just something he would outgrow and that we would need to keep an eye on.

For the exam, Dr. Raines looked in both Liam's ears and said what we were told before, that there is fluid behind the left ear drum and it was not draining properly.  Then he wanted to check Liam's hearing. I smiled to myself thinking this should be fun and how active Liam is, my thought was "good luck doc!"  He then took us to this other doctor who was a hearing specialist.  I was pretty impressed by the sound proof booth and the equipment that was going to check Liam's hearing. 

The first test was to check the vibration motility in each ear, basically it checked how much sound was getting through each ear.  Unfortunately the quality of sound that Liam is hearing is decreased in his left ear due to the fluid.  His right ear was normal.  The test was done by putting ear plugs (like the ones they use with newborn hearing screening) that were hooked to a machine that gave readings.  The hearing test was done by having Liam and I in the sound proof booth.  There was a speaker behind me on the left and right.  Above the speakers were little animals in plastic boxes that made noise and there was one in the middle in front of the booth.  I had Liam standing on my lap with the speakers behind him inside the booth, the doctor(on the outside of the booth) would say his name in one of the speakers and then play the animal, Liam would respond to whichever side he heard his name. The tones of his name were changed to check the range of his hearing.  When we first started, he was slow to respond to the left, although the doctor assured me he was learning the conditions of the test.  I am very happy that Liam passed his hearing test, even with the quality of what he is hearing is decreased in the left ear.

After the test, we met with Dr. Raines again.  His diagnosis was for Liam to have tubes placed in both ears.  My first question to him was, " how they were going to get my active boy to hold still?"; answer was general anesthesia.  My second question was, "exactly how do they put him under, who is there to watch his vitals and respiratory status and how long is the procedure?" Okay so that was three but the answers were that he would be put under using a mask that medications are put through, that there is no intubation or IV and there is an anesthesiologist monitoring him during the 10-15 minute procedure.  He said most of the surgeries are easy, uneventful and Liam would wake up in 15 minutes wondering what all the yelling was about.

At the end, the doctor gave me information on the surgery, possible post surgery complications(not what an already worried mommy needed) and what to expect after surgery.  He said his nurse would be calling this week to schedule Liam's surgery.  So while we wait for his surgery date, we are just trying to keep him from getting sick or anything that might trigger an acute infection.

As a nurse, I assist with many sedations for different simple procedures but now that I have to trust a stranger with my baby boy and sedating him, I have to say it sucks to be on the other side of that table.  We do look forward to our boy feeling better and have faith his surgery will be great without any complications.  Now when the time comes, the nurse getting Liam out of my death grip for the surgery might be a different story!