ENT

After Luke's last doctor appointment, we were told we would get a call from the ENT to schedule an appointment for Luke's ears. The very next day, the scheduler called and we made an appointment for March 29th, approximately 2 weeks away. I happily made the appointment, wrote it in my planner, and moved on with my day. After 4 straight nights of screaming and crying, however, I called them back and begged to be seen sooner. I may or may not have said something to the effect that if they made us wait until the 29th, neither of us would be alive- HA!

It must have been my lucky day because the scheduler said "Oh, hon! I know your pain! I've been there! Let's see what we can do!" She ended up scheduling us for the very next day and said "I will probably get in trouble but I don't care!" She was a God send!

So, we went on March 23rd first thing in the morning. We were taken back by the nurse who took our history. I quickly explained that Luke has had this infection since early December if not longer. I also mentioned that he has battled chronic cold symptoms that have been both minor and major but pretty constant. When the doctor came in, he asked me more questions and then looked in his ears. It wasn't good :( He decided to send us down the hall to the audiology wing to get a baseline hearing screening.

First, the audiologist put plugs in his ears that measured what she called the "flatness." He was flat. As flat as could be. That's not good. She explained to me that it means his poor little ears are jam packed with fluid. Next, we went into the hearing booth. I don't know if ya'll remember but this was deja vouz  for me. A couple years ago, we took Xavier to the exact same office for a hearing screening when he failed it at school (I blogged about it here). I was back in the booth with Luke and I knew exactly what to expect. So, basically they have little dancing or drumming animals in the booth with speakers on both sides and in the middle. They play a sound through the speakers at different volumes and tones and the baby who hears wonderfully looks in that direction at the dancing animal. Well, let me just say that as I sat in that booth with my 9 month old baby boy, I was devastated. The level of volume it took to get a reaction out of him was shocking. The hearing in his left ear was atrocious and the right ear was not much better. I didn't need to see the report to know that he is really struggling. Keep in mind Luke passed his newborn screening so we are fairly certain that any hearing issues are due to the fluid.

When we got back into Dr. Asher's office, he showed me the report and Luke fell closer to the deaf end of the chart than the normal hearing. UGH! It was so upsetting. I think he could tell I was on the verge of tears because he began to tell me what a quick fix this was and said that Luke is the perfect candidate for tubes. He also said due to all of the sinus issues he has had, taking the adenoids out would be very helpful as well.

So, on April 5, 2016, Luke will be put under and have this 60 minute procedure done. I am a nervous wreck. I am terrified. Dustin is calmer than I but nervous as well. Please, Please, PLEASE! Pray for our baby! Pray for his doctors. Pray for his medical team, pray for his recovery, pray for his healing and pray for his parents :(

We will keep ya'll in the loop and hopefully we will be reporting back the drastic change this surgery makes in our lives!