Saturday, March 29, 2014

At the Doctor's Offices

What happens when your girls are bored at the doctor's office and you don't want them to touch every item in the waiting room....

Selfies, of course!








Whew. What a week we've had.

Backing up a bit, we had the one full week (spring break) with BH in the hospital.

The next week was similarly odd and full with multiple doctor's appointments, then my outpatient surgery on Wednesday. I had a stapedectomy on my left ear to correct my hearing loss. They take out the faulty, calcified stapes ear bone and put in a prosthesis. And, most of the time, you end up with near-perfect hearing. It was highly successful on my right ear 18 months ago, so we're optimistic, but still waiting, as healing and functioning properly takes some time.

That brings us to this past week - also unusually full of appointments and preparations (I'll get to that part in a minute), as well as an inconvenient cold that has taken up residence in my healing head.

Two of those doctor's appointments were because we realized over the past few weeks that CJ (3.5 yrs) was having trouble hearing. Ironic, right?! It was a little scary, but I felt pretty confident it was due to some unresolved ear infection trouble and very unlikely that it was connected to my hearing loss condition.

Thanks be to God, my hunch was right. The pediatrician confirmed very fluid-filled ears, prescribed some medication, then recommended a trip to the ENT doctor. The above photos are from that visit.

The ENT was thorough and thoughtful, which I really appreciated. He concurred with our pediatrician's observations and treatment, and ordered a hearing test.

CJ was a champ during her audiogram, which confirmed 20-30% hearing loss.

We praise God for good medical care and for the fact that, because this is an "outer ear" problem, there's almost no chance that this is permanent hearing loss. Our approach at this point, per the ENT doctor, is to try a combination of two meds, then check again in a month. If no improvement in hearing, then she gets tubes in her ears.

The week has also been full with homework and science projects (EG, MK, AH), and philosophy questions (EG), and Hobbit reading (CA), and I don't know what else - rather a blur. But the preparations: my parents and nephew arrived yesterday for a week-long visit, so we are stocked up with good eats and worked hard to get the house in order for guests. It was a team effort - everyone worked hard!

Lastly, it's been a while since I used this space for recording memorable-kid-moments...

But just now, CJ asked me if she could have a Squeak with her lunch, just like her sisters were having. It took me a couple of seconds to realize she wanted a Peep. Cute.

I took CJ-only with me to my own post-op appointment this week. She had a special clipboard and markers and notepad. It was much-needed one-on-one with #6 and she was a superstar during the doctor visit and errands. 

1 comment:

  1. BETH. I can't believe I didn't visit for a few weeks and you have all this sickness and WHAT?! hospital and drama! I'm so sorry, friend. I'm so glad things seem to have turned out well, but oh my dear, I'm so sorry I didn't know and wasn't praying specifically for you all.
    xoxoxoxo

    ReplyDelete