I just found out my 2 1/2 year old needs tubes. It was heartbreaking to see the dr. clean out his ears today while wrapped in a blanket so he couldn't move. I know this is not a big deal of a surgery but it is my first surgery on my son. Are there any questions I should be asking? What should I expect after surgery?

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Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

We didnt, but I know folks who swear by it.

We just had our adenoids remkoved (age 7). She handled it REAL well. Recuperating ok...

Jason

I had this done when I was little and I still remember them being taken out. They did it in the office and I still remember the Dr. telling me he was pulling a rabbit out of my ear.

I never got ear infections after that, but before I had them I had them all of the time.

Good luck, it's all for the best in the end.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Two of my three sons have tubes. They also took out their adnoids, to help the sinus congestion. That both handled it fine. We were home within hours. We have never had complications with them, and thank God no more screaming nights of ear infections. My youngest actually went completely deaf for awhile, before the tubes.He now hears normally!!! They will fall out as the child gets older, and the older one hasn't had to have them replaced, its been four years now.Good Luck!

Natalie military wife &
mom to three boys 8, 6, and 2

I am 35 years old and have tubes in my ears to this day. I get them every few years when the old ones fall out. They are a blessing to me. If I don't have them in the fluid backs up in my ears and I go deaf until it is relieved. I used to get awful ear infections and on planes I used to curl into a ball because my ears were so painful.

I have had them tubed in the office and in the hospital. To tell you the truth I prefer in the hospital as it can be a tad painful and I am a jerker. So I feel safer being knocked out for it.

It is a easy surgery and relief will be instant. Most likely the Dr. will give you ear plugs to use when they bathe and wash their hair or go into a pool. It is very important to keep the water out of the ears. I have even just used cotton balls in my ears in a pinch.

Depending on what kind of tubes they put in they can stay in anywhere from a couple months to a couple of years. They don't have to be removed usually they will just fall out on their own. You don't even feel it.

Something to be aware of is. If they are tubing because of fluid and there is temporary loss of hearing due to the fluid blocking the sound. After the tubing everything will seem really loud to your son. After I have mine done I have to ask son and DH to talk a little softer and keep the TV a little lower as you don't realize how much you couldn't hear before and how much you can hear after if that makes sense. It usually lasts for a few days and then I am ok.


Sorry I am just going on and on. Anyways if you have any questions feel free to ask.

My grandaughter is 7 and she has had the surgery several times to get them put in, they do fall out after a certain amount of time, she has had them in since she was about 3, unfortuantely she has still suffered from some permanent hearing loss, but we will never know if that occurred when she was small or has happened over a long period of time. Thankfully you are getting it done early. I have been there for 2 of my GD surgeries and it's out patient, they do put them under, if I remember correctly it takes about an hour, then they come out and stay in the recovery area for another couple of hours, my GD did throw up after every surgery from the anesthesia, but not everyone does. They give them popsicles afterwards, they like that. I think it is harder on the parents than it is on the kids because you can't go in with them, but you can be there before and after.

My son had them at just about exactly the same age as your son. They worked miracles and he has not had a single ear infection since. It was a CHORE to get these for him in the first place. He never had an ear infection in the first 12 months of his life; But when he hit 13 months old, he had them almost continually---something about the fluid never completely draining from his canals. Unfortunately we had KAISER insurance, and because he had NOT had chronic ear infections since infancy, we had to wait until he had a 25% measurable hearing loss to get the tubes put in. I think that is criminal and he went for over a year of painful earaches (all the while we were challenging the rulings and appealing the rulings) AND a high percentage of hearing loss--because it really affected his speech for many years (obviously this is a time of great growth in speaking terms at this age). Anyway, it was a very simple, outpatient procedure. He had his tubes in for about 3 years, when they just fell out on their own as he had outgrown them. Stayed in long enough for his canals to situate themselves somehow so the fluid retention was no longer a problem. I know that the thought of your baby having to have surgery can be awfully scary. And having him cocooned or papoosed (wrapping him) was I am sure traumatic for you also. That is normal. But, think of the reasons your DR is having the tubes put in. When my son started having his ear infections, his whole personality changed. It was immediate. So apparent to me, that often times when I brought him in to see his Pedi. she asked how I knew already because his ear was just beginning to turn pink and it had to be under 12 hours that the condition had started. But, his infections REALLY hurt and bothered him. As I said earlier, after tubes not once did he again experience that pain. Good luck to you and your son and his Dr. too!

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"Well-Behaved Women SELDOM make history."Laurel Thatcher Ulrich


"Yesterday is but a vision, and tomorrow is only a dream. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a dream of hope." Anonymous

"Your candle does not lose it's light by lighting another candle" Generosity

Have the courage to be yourself.

I know this will sound odd- but you just said the Dr was cleaning out his ears? Has he had alot of infections? I ask because oldest DD got them when she was 2- but she didn't have any infections- just fluid that wouldn't go out- didn't bother her at all but the pedi kept noticing it and send us to the ENT for a check. After a few months he thought it would be better to do the tubes so get the fluid to drain. She had never had an ear infection before- but within 2 weeks of the tubes - she had one. And kept getting them until that one came out 1 year later.

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Mom to Katie 1/95 and Sara 5/97

Honestly I dont' think any of us know if he had ear infections. he was allergic to milk and that inflamed the ear canal so bad the doctor was not able to see much.. Once we got him off of the milk he saw the fluid. Keaton has always been a hard kid.. as an infant he cried all but 3 hours a night.. here it was his ears.. I really just don't know if he had infections or not.

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Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

My ds is three and has had them twice. He handled the surgery very well and we haven't had any ear infections since he has had the tubes. One nice thing about the newer tubes, he doesn't have to have ear plugs in the tub or a backyard pool, just has to have them if he is in a lake, stream or ocean becuase of bacteria.

The dr wants to put them in again because he has fluid in one ear ~ not infected and only bothers him when he yawns. I decided that I don't want to go the surgery route again ~ not that I don't agree with the doctor, but he's already had them twice, so we are trying the chiropractor for a few months.

kathie