Cora has always been a healthy child. So when she got an ear infection in December, we didn't know until she told us her ear hurt. We brought her in to find out that both ears were infected and her right ear drum had burst. I felt awful! That is so painful!
After a round of antibiotics she said her ears felt better, but we went to the followup a month later just in case.
Still infected. Another round of a stronger antibiotic. She got sick and checked out a week before her followup, and they were STILL INFECTED. But at the followup they had cleared. Thank goodness!
I'm not even kidding, five days later she woke up crying and saying "My ears hurt". I thought "Well GREAT."
Brought her in, sure enough infected again! Just for reference, her ears were infected for 2 years straight (Minus 5 days or so).
This time my pediatrician made a referral to an ENT. They scheduled it for 2 months later, just before her birthday.
Cora insisted on wearing her Mulan dress and blanket as a cape. WHATEVER.
When we went to the ENT, he did a test that showed her ears were totally coated by mucus. He performed a test on her ears and they did not react to air being blown. He said "This isn't going to go away on its own, she definitely needs tubes". Which made my decision easier! He said her tubes would help her hear 25-30% better.
Her surgery was scheduled for May 1, we had to be there at 8:15 AM. The night before we went to Yogurtland for family night and Cora got a little bit of EVERYTHING.
She wasn't allowed to eat after midnight or drink anything after 4:15 AM, so I fasted too so she didn't see me eating in the car. She brought her baby and Bun Bun. I felt like I was bringing a lamb to the slaughter.
She was not happy about the hair net.
Knowing Cora needed to go back and go under anesthesia was gut wrenching to me. I tried to explain to her that she was going to wear a space mask that smelled like marshmallows (her scent of choice), and I thought I'd get a wave or something when they brought her back. Instead I got this:
I stood there trying to be strong for her as I heard her screams for mom fading in the background. But really I just wanted to run back there and help her. And it was such a fast procedure. It was 10 minutes before I could go back. She was freaking out but not awake. She was "hulking out" and fighting off her nurses and had this bizarre cry that hurt me to hear. But she calmed down immediately when I got her. We sat there for about half an hour as she napped and I tried to convince her to take off the gown and put on clothes. She would barely lift her head off the chest and shake it "no". But I finally got her to put a shirt on... pants? Not so much. Again, WHATEVER.
As we got ready to leave she barely whispered "Can I have a Popsicle?" And the nurses got us one. As we were leaving her head whipped around and she said "Mom, did you hear that?" So it seems that it was effective! In addition, I only had to turn the volume on the music up about half the volume I did on the way there.
After some Chick Fil A french fries and a nap at home, she perked back up.
You never know how lucky you have it until something like that happens. Even though she was only out for 5 minutes and she was never in real danger, it ripped my heart out. I cannot even imagine the fear and sadness parents feel when their child has something worse happen. Some of our friends have had major health challenges with their kids, including major surgeries, and I understood the tiniest bit of what they felt for just a second. Bless them!
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