Tubes - Round Two

Clay had his tubes redone today at Boys Town National Research Hospital.  He first had them put in last November due to several failed hearing tests and constant fluid in his ears.  His first procedure went well and lucky for us, today was no different.

We learned that his right tube was out about 2 months ago when he got an ear infection.  We made a follow up visit with our ENT, Dr. Allen, and she confirmed the tube was out and needed to be replaced.  The left tube still appeared to be intact but Clay failed the hearing test in BOTH ears.  This was cause for some concern.  He had previously passed his hearing tests after having the tubes put in.

Dr. Allen suggested we have an Auditory Brainstem Response Test (ABR) to determine whether or not Clay was experiencing hearing loss due to fluid (which is easily fixed with tubes) or if hearing aids would be a necessary next step.  The ABR is performed by pasting electrodes on the head and recording brain wave activity in response to sound. The person being tested rests quietly or sleeps while the test is performed.

She also wanted to repeat the scope of his throat that she did last time to check on his Tracheomalacia (low muscle tone in his trachea).  This has caused Clay little problems so far but is the reason he sounds "phlemy" after eating or drinking and can lead to respiratory issues if not kept under control.

His surgery was at 9:00 am this morning and we had to be there at 7:30.  My biggest concern was that he could not eat or drink before surgery.  Clay loves to eat.  Clay loves to eat on a schedule.  That schedule includes breakfast being about 4 minutes after he wakes up.  In fact, Clay usually signs "more eat" as I change his morning diaper.  Much to my surprise, me having to wake him up made him pretty out of it for the majority of the morning and he didn't seem too upset about not eating.  The iPad and a new toy kept him busy with the exception of a few "more eat" signs throughout the morning.

The tubes and scope only took Dr. Allen about 30 minutes and she reported back that she had no problems putting the new, right tube in and the left one looked good so she left it alone.  

The scope showed pretty much the same thing as a year ago.  There is flattening or narrowing of his trachea down low, closer to his airways but she is confident that as he grows it will continue to open and round out as it should be.

The ABR (hearing test) took about an hour and we were very relieved to hear from audiology that Clay passed in both ears!

We are so proud of Clay.  He is such a trooper and was all smiles tonight!