On August 25th we learned that the infection is back and not looking good. Dr. took a culture, put him on ear drops and we'll be back in a week to make sure it is clearing up. This means surgery (that's suppose to be in 2 weeks) is most likely going to be postponed. We'll discuss more at our appt next week. Never a dull moment with Haden and his ear.
At this appt it was a follow up from last week. Infection is clearing up and responding to drops- yay! Another culture taken just to be safe. Surgery (that was scheduled on the 9th) is postponed until his ear looks better, and then when it does, we will schedule again. Back in two weeks for another check up.
Then we received a call from the ENT office, the culture came back saying he still had an infection. So we were changing ear drops to help clear it up.
Then we received a call from the ENT office, the culture came back saying he still had an infection. So we were changing ear drops to help clear it up.
So on Tuesday morning (the 15th) we went for yet another follow up on Haden's ear. We were waiting for it to clear up and then once it was we would put him on the schedule.
Well at this appointment, his ENT felt his ear was ready for surgery. He advised us to continue with ear drops until his surgery date, so that we would hold off any possible infections. And with that plan I went into the office to schedule his appointment. Haden and Delaney (who really wanted to come with us) sat out in some chairs and waited. They were spoiled and a nurse brought them doughnuts and water while they waited :) We love this office! As we started to talk about dates, the nurse said 'how do you feel about tomorrow? Right before you came in, I had someone cancel. Otherwise you will have to wait until the middle of October.' I took a second and thought, what the heck! So I said lets do it! She checked with Dr. Sikand to be sure that it was okay, and he said it was. Then we scheduled it and away we went! As we walked out of the ENT office, I said to Haden 'ready for me to rock your world?' he looked at me confused and then I said 'are you ready for surgery tomorrow?' He practically yelled 'tomorrow??'. He was nervous, scared but ready to get it over with. So there we were, with plans for surgery tomorrow. I was nervous myself, I can't imagine how he was feeling. But it's better to just get it over with.
Tuesday night my parents came over and my Dad helped Jeff give Haden a blessing. That night Haden stayed up late to eat and drink before midnight, since his surgery wasn't until 11 am the next day. He chose to have Red Robin for dinner. And he actually stayed up until after midnight, getting in his last drinks right before midnight. He was anxious about it all and chose to sleep in our room that night.
Wednesday, the 16th, Haden slept in which was good! He showered and while he showered we had the other kids eat breakfast, so they weren't eating when Haden was downstairs. By the time we were ready for the day, we only had about an hour before we had to leave. Which was good, not too much time sitting around.
We got to the surgery center and got signed in. There wasn't anyone there, which was nice! Usually it's pretty busy. They called him back, got him changed, and ready to go. Dr. Sikand came and talked to us. All was set and ready to go. The anesthesiologist was a little late, so we waited on him. He also kind of blew Jeff and I off when we let him know that Haden takes a long time waking up. And in the past they have lessened the amount of anesthesia and it has helped a ton. He basically didn't listen. After he left, the surgical nurse came and when Haden saw her, the tears started. Dang it! It makes me tear up every time. She was so cute with him, made sure he had tissue and was very reassuring. We followed them as long as we could and then we went our separate ways. It's never easy sending a child off to surgery, regardless of what type it is!
Loving the hat :)
Right ear has been marked!
This boy is amazing and we are so honored to be his parents!
He does not like IV's, they freak him out. And so after being a champ while they put it in, he wouldn't move his hand. He tried but it creeped him out. So he played on his phone one handed :)
One of the parents had to wear a matching bracelet to match Haden's.
Then we waited! The surgery was just over 1 1/2 hours. Dr. Sikand came out and said that it all went well. There wasn't any reason that he could find that would explain why he's had so many infections. They reconstructed the ear drum and put in a prosthetic (of course I didn't ask what that was for, so we will be asking at his next appointment). But we are all hopeful that this time it will work!
We got to go back and see Haden shortly after. And it took him a long time to wake up. Like I said, the anesthesiologist didn't listen.
Sleeping the time away.
His ET finger :)
We eventually got him to wake up, and get to the point where they would let us go. Which we were all grateful for!
He's awake! Groggy, but awake! And rocking that cup!
Happy to be leaving!
They put happy face stickers on his cup :)
He slept a lot, which is good!
Haden has seriously been a rockstar! He's hardly needed pain meds, he's taken to it all like a champ! I am so impressed with him and how he's been.
Today we took the cup off his ear (I'll spare you the colored picture). He usually gets to take it off after 24 hours, but our ENT suggested leaving it on another day. This morning it was driving him crazy and so I decided it was close enough :) And we took it off. There was blood, but not as much as last time, which was good. We are to just change the cotton in his ear daily/as needed, to keep it clean.
We are looking forward to seeing the ENT in 2 weeks. And going from there. Although we won't know how well it's doing for at least 4 weeks, possibly more. But our fingers are crossed that this time is it for this kid!
