Ear Tubes

If you read my blog at all, or ask, anyone will know that Tori has had many ear infections in her short life. It has been a nightmare! I feel so bad for the little girl. Here is a list of ear infections she has had.
1 month: double ear infection
2 months: left ear infection
3 months: right ear infections
4 months: none (thank heaven)
5 1/2 months: left ear infection
10 days later: left ear infection (we don't think it went away)
6 months: right ear infection
Yep, it has been that crazy for her. When I took Tori to see the doctor when the left one was still infected (or never went away) before she turned 6 months. I asked for an ENT referral. She was happy to give me one, especially since she had 6 ear infections before she was even 6 months old. She also mentioned that she wanted to see her in a couple weeks to check up on the one she had. We ended up coming in for our 6 month check-up and her right ear didn't look pretty. She was so excited to hear that I had an appointment with Dr. Mancuso (an ENT) for the next morning. I was too, because the ear problem was getting crazy. Dr. Mancuso was great! He said that we could do one of 2 things, give her more antibiotics or get ear tubes. I told him that I was looking forward to ear tubes and I was hoping that he would recommend them. I also mentioned that the sooner we get them the better because our insurance was going to change at the beginning of July. He was really proactive about it and went straight to the person who schedules the surgeries. She said she could get me in on Friday June 15th (it was Wednesday June 13th). It was a miracle! I said YES! (Why wouldn't I?) Then When I left the doctor with all the information I just wanted to cry because I knew I was going to get relief! Josh was a little skeptical about getting ear tubes, but I figure that it was worth a try. So, on Friday June 15th, Josh and I woke up at 5 in the morning to get ready to go to the surgery center. I'm glad Tori didn't wake up until we had to leave. We had to be there at 6 in the morning and the surgery would occur at 7. Since she was the youngest she was the first to go in. I was very impressed at how well Tori did before the surgery. She hadn't eaten anything since midnight and she was really good until 6:45ish. The nurse, anesthesiologist, and Dr. Mancuso came to talk to us around 7 and then 10 minutes later she left. That was the hardest thing to do, to see the nurse take my baby away from me (even though it would only be about 15 minutes). Around 7:30 the nurse brought a very screaming Tori in. She wouldn't eat and didn't want to do anything because of what she had just been through. I'll admit that is totally understandable. We still had to calm her down when we got home and then she had to decide between sleeping and eating. She at a little and went back to sleep.
Although it cost me and Josh around $2,000 to put the ear tubes in, it was definitely worth it. The same day the tubes were put in, Tori finally rolled over. A few days later she would actually sit up really well without toppling over and then about 5 days later she started eating solid foods. A week later she started sleeping through the night (again). Although Josh was really skeptical about the whole thing, he has seen the same improvement that I have and he is glad that we had the ear tubes put in. Here are a few pictures of our adventure!

Ready and excited to go get some ear tubes put in!

Playing with daddy as we wait for the surgery!

Me and Tori with Dr. Mancuso. I should have gotten the picture BEFORE the tubes were put in but I forgot. Hence Tori's face, she's crying... a lot! (I think Dr. Mancuso thought I was weird for asking for a picture.)