Tubes, Tear Ducts and Tires

The results are in: Daniel needs tubes.  He still has fluid in both ears, though it’s not infected now.  The doctor could only see fluid in the left ear, but both tympanograms were flat, which means there must still be fluid in both.  I told the doctor that I wanted to be more aggressive with this, and he agreed. 

The fun part (not really) about all of this is that Daniel’s ear canals are tiny, especially on his left side.  Even with his most tiny earpiece
(the opening is no bigger than a pin head), the doctor had a hard time seeing anything.  He pulled a tiny piece of wax out and that cleared up the view.  So combine ear wax with tiny ear canals and Daniel’s ear canals are basically doomed to always being plugged.  That is not good news.  The doctor recommended that we come in once a month to clean out his ears.  OY!!

(He’s pretty darn cute in his Sunday outfit, though!  Even if we have to pin the waist and roll up the pant legs!)

I have a sense that Daniel’s hearing is not what it should be.  The kid hardly talks.  He doesn’t really squeal and he has never made a consonant sound.  Not one (unless you count the noise that comes out when his hand is in his mouth).  The noises he makes are more like groans (and people think he’s filling his diaper).  I am bound and determined to do everything in my power to help him talk.  So, while he’s getting his tubes, we’re going to repeat the ABR (the hearing test every newborn gets before leaving the hospital).  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it comes out OK.

(Perspective is a good thing.  He doesn’t look so little now!)

And while we’re at it, we’re going to have an ophthamologist take care of his tear ducts!  No sense in putting him under twice when we can get it all taken care of on the same day, right?!?!  I’m sure Daniel will appreciate not having his eyes stuck together all the time.

I just have to point out that we are blessed with a wonderful ENT.  He has been so great to work with.  And when he found out we TECHNICALLY don’t have insurance right now (we’re sort of inbetween with Jared’s job change last month), he said he wasn’t going to charge us for everything.  “Let’s just do $50 and call it good.”  WOW!!  He saved us about $200!!

Now, you’re probably looking at the title of this post and wondering where tires come into all of this.  Have you ever walked by your car and heard a hissing sound?  Well I did yesterday.  And as I put my ear down to listen where it was coming from, I saw the offending screw, buried in the rear passenger tire of our Suburban.  Ughgh!!  We had just returned from the doctor’s office, and Daniel needed to be fed.  So I had no choice but to sit down and feed him (all the while wondering if I was going to finish with him and find a completely flat tire).  Thankfully the tire was still OK to drive on, so we (me and the three younger kids) ran in to get it fixed.  The bad news: the screw was on the very edge of the tire, so they couldn’t fix it.  The good news: our tires needed to be replaced anyway, and they had a set of used ones the same size for $45 each.  SOLD!