Today Gretta got her 4th ear tube or PE tube in her left ear drum. I thought 3rd time might be the charm, but I guess not. She had her first set of tubes when they fixed her cleft palate in Dec 2006. Then in Dec 2007 she got another set. Dec of 2007 she got one in the left ear. The right ear drum was perforated (has a hole in it) which is like having a tube in some ways, and in other ways worse.
She got this one because she has so much negative pressure in the left ear they were worried it would cause permanent damage to her left ear drum. Last time we check the pressure was negative 290 (-290). It should be 0. The right ear drum still has a large perforation, or I should say it is pretty much gone. They looked in it with a camera/microscope and the pictures was of the bones of the middle ear. Not so great. You only get one shot to fix it right, so it will have to wait until she is 10 or so.
Gretta tends to be a fast extruder. Which means the tubes only seem to last 6 months or so. Sometimes they last up to 18 months and other times years. So we will see how long this one stays in place. Hopefully long enough to get it done next time with better insurance.
Gretta was really scared this morning and really didn't want to go. We left the house at 6:15am and she threw a huge fit. She even cried the whole time she was in the waiting room. Everyone felt really bad for her. Then once we got back to the area to change she started to act a lot happier, and was nice to the nurse. She liked the gown and the cool hat. They even had a nice toy room to play in before she went back to surgery.
The other good news in that one of my good friends from NP school works for Dr. Parson's so he treated us nicely.
Also, the CRNA, Kevin, happened to have worked with me at Orem Community Hospital when I worked there. Plus he is a Mayo graduate, so I knew she was in good hands.
The whole "surgery" part only took about 15 minutes from start to recovery. She woke up happy and we left by 7:45 am
Tonight she told me she was sorry she was so scared and that next time she will know it won't hurt. That was before we had to put the ear drops in. She HATES ear drops. Oh well only 3 more days to go.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers!
She got this one because she has so much negative pressure in the left ear they were worried it would cause permanent damage to her left ear drum. Last time we check the pressure was negative 290 (-290). It should be 0. The right ear drum still has a large perforation, or I should say it is pretty much gone. They looked in it with a camera/microscope and the pictures was of the bones of the middle ear. Not so great. You only get one shot to fix it right, so it will have to wait until she is 10 or so.
Gretta tends to be a fast extruder. Which means the tubes only seem to last 6 months or so. Sometimes they last up to 18 months and other times years. So we will see how long this one stays in place. Hopefully long enough to get it done next time with better insurance.
Gretta was really scared this morning and really didn't want to go. We left the house at 6:15am and she threw a huge fit. She even cried the whole time she was in the waiting room. Everyone felt really bad for her. Then once we got back to the area to change she started to act a lot happier, and was nice to the nurse. She liked the gown and the cool hat. They even had a nice toy room to play in before she went back to surgery.
The other good news in that one of my good friends from NP school works for Dr. Parson's so he treated us nicely.
Also, the CRNA, Kevin, happened to have worked with me at Orem Community Hospital when I worked there. Plus he is a Mayo graduate, so I knew she was in good hands.
The whole "surgery" part only took about 15 minutes from start to recovery. She woke up happy and we left by 7:45 am
Tonight she told me she was sorry she was so scared and that next time she will know it won't hurt. That was before we had to put the ear drops in. She HATES ear drops. Oh well only 3 more days to go.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers!
Showing off her cool gown.
Waiting in the surgery playroom.
3 comments:
I just saw an ENT and he wants to put tubes in my ears. We are getting a second opinion. Hopefully if I end up having to get them i will be brave like gretta
Poor thing!! I would be scared too...even at my age!! :) Lauren has had major ear problems too not fun. However we are only on our 2nd tubes. Sure hope the 4th does the trick. We finally made it back to UT...yes we moved back. We should get together sometime especially when MAlinda comes out this summer. She had her babe too if you hadn't heard! Anyhow hope life is treating you well! Becca
What a trooper! I think I had tubes that many times too (I spent a lot of time in the water).
I remember being scared about the surgery and my parents bribing my with a Go Bot (like a Transformer) if I was good.
Tell Gretta she is very brave!
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