What Was That? I Can't Hear You...Ear Tubes You Say?

Susanne must have fallen asleep on the couch because she woke up at 2:00am in a state of confusion. She had missed Paxton's midnight feeding by accident so she had to make it up by feeding him before she headed off to her real bed. Fluffy Diaz sure didn't mind the extra snuggle time on the couch.

Early today, Paxton had an appointment with an ENT doctor, also known as an otolaryngologist. Susanne was finding it quite difficult to muster up the energy to get ready. It was a constant battle for her to get motivated early in the morning. She always had to decide whether she really needed to compromise a few more minutes of shut eye for a shower or if the extra amount of sleep was worth it. It really depended on the day. No matter what, she never felt like she had enough time to get ready and out the door. She was always cutting it close, down to the wire.

The otolaryngologist evaluated Paxton today so that he could be approved for his follow up hearing test. Upon examination, she was concerned about fluid that she observed in Paxton's left ear. Despite this finding, she decided to pursue the hearing test anyway. They were transferred to an audiologist for the administration of the test. Susanne had to sit with Paxton in a booth where the audiologist called out his name and whistled at different volumes. The sound would come out of different speakers so that they could assess if he would follow the noise by looking. This would determine if he could hear or not. Due to Paxton's developmental delays, he was unfit for this test. He wasn't quite able to respond to sound in that way. The next test that was performed was called tympanometry. This was a test that would determine the condition of his middle ear and confirm if he had fluid present. They assessed this by changing the air pressure in the ear canal and recorded the response from the ear drum. Unfortunately, Paxton had a flat graph, which meant that he truly did have fluid in both of his ears. This was a common finding for children that had Pierre Robin Syndrome because of the cleft palate. Due to the opening of the roof of his mouth, fluid was predisposed to backing up into his sinuses. If he could not clear it or if the fluid proved to be too much, then the fluid would eventually flow into the middle ear. This was possible because the middle ear was connected to the nasal cavity by way of the eustachian tube. Since Paxton had fluid in his ears, the audiologist could not perform the other hearing test because he would fail. This would happen because the fluid build up in the middle ear space would interfere with the BAER test. The solution? Ear tubes. This would help resolve this problem. Paxton would have to have little cylinders placed through his ear drum to allow air in the middle ear. As a result, it would help to drain the fluid. The otolaryngologist was going to try to set up this procedure to be done along with his G-tube placement. In order for this to occur, Susanne would have to find time to take Paxton to see an ENT surgeon before the surgery day. Hopefully, they would be able to coordinate the schedule.

Susanne had to stop by work to place a few calls to some of her clients. In the meantime, Paxon got to visit with Aunt Julie and see how big her baby bump was getting. Julie also noticed how big Paxton was getting and could not believe that Susanne was still carrying him in his carseat without any assistance. She mentioned that she might want to look into the Graco Snugride Stroller. This might very well change her life. It was a lot smaller than the other stroller that Susanne already had. She made sure that Babies R Us was the next stop before heading home.

Once they were home, Susanne put Paxton down for a nap so that he would be geared up for Aunt Leeny and Uncle Loonie's kickball game. Susanne made some important phone calls while he was resting up. There were many days that Susanne felt more like Paxton's personal assistant than his mother. Her days were always full of some sort of paperwork, phone calls, copying this or that, faxing something, getting him a latte minus the espresso, etc. Luckily, he was worth it.

Aunt Leenie called Susanne right before they were about to leave to inform her that she thought that it was too hot for Paxton to be out there for the kickball game. Even though she would have loved to have two cheerleaders there, she didn't want Paxton to be miserable, especially since there was no areas of shade.

Susanne decided to take Paxton, James, and Fluffy Diaz for a short walk instead. Earlier, she assembled the new stroller and she was excited to get to use it. Everyone did great. Susanne counted it as a success since she made it back in one piece.

After they got back, Paxton was drenched in sweat. Susanne was glad that she had followed Colleen's advice and didn't go to the game. Susanne decided to give Paxton a bath and then it was time to go night night. What a busy day. Phew!