Owen Gets Tubes

Well Owen had to have tubes put in his ears. We have been wondering for quite a while regarding his hearing and after we saw the hearing test and that he was functioning with mild to moderate hearing loss we felt bad about all the times that we had to yell at him thinking he had the common condition called selective hearing loss. But nope he actually did not hear us.
So the procedure itself is very easy and quick. About 5-10 minutes. They make a tiny cut just below the eardrum and vacuum out the mucous that is stuck behind the eardrum which is the actual cause of the hearing loss, and then put in ventilation tubes which fall out after about a year. Well in the adult we would just sit in a chair and clench our teeth and try and sit still, for a child they have to put them under anesthesia and put them to sleep. So we were not worried about the procedure but the fact that he was to be put under. I could have felt at ease that when I went in to lay him on the operating table that there was a Nurse Anesthetist and an Anesthesiologist but anyone that knows anything about surgery knows that you don't need both. So it actually made me more nervous because the process of putting a little child under anesthesia is a lot harder and riskier than an adult.
Nonetheless after only about 20 minutes from the time that I laid him on the table he was back in our arms awake and just fine. In fact he was back to himself only an hour and a half after surgery. Except for the part where he could actually hear. He spent the entire hour drive home singing lalalas and doing vocal exercises to himself. I suppose it sounded weird and he was getting used to his ears. Anyway, the hardest part about this will be to keep him from dunking his head under the bathtub water for the next 2-3 weeks.
All in all he was a trooper never once crying and save for a little anxiousness laying down on the operating table he did great. The nurses and staff at the Avera hospital were great as well. We arrived at 5:30 did the procedure at 7:30 and were gone by 9:00.

Nice hospital gown!


Just before I took him into the operating room

Just after the surgery

On the way back up to the room

All done!