Trip to the ER & Surgery

Just over two weeks ago, I took Quentin to the ER at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. He had mucus coming out of his ear. (It looked like what you would find coming out of your nose if you were sick, so it looked like green snot, to be politically correct). I figured it was probably an ear infection, as we have never had a child who had this before, so since it was a Sunday and our doctor’s office was closed, I took him to the ER. They determined that it was probably an ear infection that ruptured and gave us some antibiotics and some ear drops and told us to come back the next day to the ENT department (Ears, Nose, Throat) to have his ear cleaned as they couldn’t determine what sort of ear infection it was (middle ear, outer ear, etc…) as he had way too much fluid in his ear. They told us his ear did rupture, which is why the liquid was coming out of his ear.

The next day, we came back for our appointment and after listening to Quentin’s symptoms, they determined that he should go for an X-ray to see what was going on that we couldn’t see. So after they drained his ear (above left hand picture) we went for an X-ray.

The X-ray, determined that his adenoids were huge and blocking his passage not allowing him to breathe properly through his nose. You see the space where the red lines are? The dark black between  the two thin red lines is the space after the blockage. That black space, should be black all the way up to to the nose, where the thick solid red line is, should be dark space, not white where his adenoids are blocking. So they recommended him for surgery, and we were put on the wait list. The ENT doctor we saw that Monday wasn’t our regular ENT, who was following Quentin since he was 2 months old and diagnosed with Laryngomalacia. Her wait list was only about 6 months (+), our regular ENT who has been following Quentin had a one year + wait list as he has been doing research and is extremely over booked. So I decided to stay on with this new ENT doctor, and put Quentin on her cancellation list. We were given a Pre-Op appointment right away, since being on the cancellation list, you could get called any time, with 1-2 days notice for surgery. Our Pre-Op appointment was scheduled for this past Monday and Friday last week we got a call asking us if Wednesday was good for surgery, and I took it.

When we did the Pre-Op appointment on Monday, the doctor did a more thorough exam and asked us more questions and recommended that not only we take out his adenoids, but put tubes in his ears as well. His adenoids were so enlarged that they were pressing up against his ears, causing the constant runny nose and the liquid in his ears, and probably also causing Quentin’s speech delay. 

Wednesday we arrived at the Children’s Hospital and got settled in his hospital gown. He was in good spirits for someone who usually has eat twice already on a normal day. It killed me to deny him food, twice he tried to get food from the cupboard at home before we left.

We waited in the first waiting room for a while and then we went with a child care worker to talk to Quentin and explain to him what was going to happen and she read him a story about a little child going though a surgery as well, and showed him pictures of what the doctors would wear and the nurses too, so he wouldn’t be afraid. She even showed him the mask he would wear to fall asleep & had a (germ) mask for Doggy to wear too (above right hand picture) which was too cute. I liked that the hospital has child care workers doing this, because it makes surgery SO much less scary for the children.

He went with the nurse when it was time for surgery, I was shocked he went without hesitation or any tears. His surgery was from about 1:30 pm until 2:05 pm, and I had just enough time to run down to the cafe, grab a sandwich for both Jamie & I, and head back up to the OR waiting room. I saw when they wheeled him over to the recovery room, at about 2:05 pm. It took him about 30 minutes almost to wake up from the anaesthesia. Once he woke up, he coughed a lot, (they were working through is mouth to remove his adenoids, so this was normal) and just wanted me to hold him. He was very clingy, but graciously accepted a cup of apple juice and even had a bit of popsicle. They let us go home around 3:20 pm after taking him off the IV drip and getting a prescription for ear drops to help his ears heal properly. Before leaving, I made an appointment for a hearing test in the audiology department, so we can see if he has any hearing loss damage at all. He crashed in the car on the way home – surgery is exhausting!

He’s been in a good mood since the surgery. Almost like 100% himself. Thursday & Friday he decided he didn’t want to nap at all, but was a disaster (over tired) by dinner time. Today he finally napped again, and I stopped giving him advil. (I was told to give him advil for the 1st 3 days (Wed p.m.-Thurs-Friday-Sat a.m) So far, so good! I even have caught him trying to repeat new words, and I think the tubes are making a huge difference.

Do you have any children with tubes in their ears? What’s your opinion on them? Was it for repeat ear infections, liquid in the ears, or speech delay?