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Ears, tubes, Dr. Young, etc!
Okay, C has been struggling with ear infections since December. We were referred to Dr. Young after 6 infections and when he wasn't responding to oral antibiotics and we had to go to Rocephin. We saw Dr. Young and he wanted to wait it out a bit. C was infection free from mid May until mid August. He has had 2 or 3 since then. I think? I lost track though. Anyway, we saw Dr. Young as recently as the 14th of this month. His last infection had cleared up, so doc said he was "on the fence" in regards to tubes since the last couple infections have cleared up well. However, for the last 2 the only thing he has responded to was Augmentin. We were back today with another infection (our regular pedi office). She didn't want to do Augmentin again since he's already had it this month, so he's on Zithromax. It will be interesting to see if it works for him. Dr. Young didn't have us schedule a follow up, so I guess I need to call him to get him in again. My question for you Dr. Young mommas....Did your LO go through this much before getting tubes? I like how conservative he has been so far and I'm glad he didn't jump into tubes from the beginning, but when is enough enough? If he doesn't recommend tubes at our next appointment what should my response be? A second opinion? I'm worried that it's only October and we're already in this cycle of illness and infections. Sorry this is so long. I'm worried about my little guy and appreciate any advice you can give. TIA!
Re: Ears, tubes, Dr. Young, etc!
We've seen lots of Dr Young these past few months. Both boys have had surgery done by him. We went straight to tubes with DS2 after 6-8 ear infections and 3(or so) rounds of rocephin. However, we had rocephin straight through the summer, when they usually expect things to be better. Dr Young also said he's more aggressive for kids that have anything else going on (DS2 was in the NICU and has a congenital arm difference possibly caused by some genetic thing) so we went right ahead. I'm not surprised he wanted you to wait it out through summer. If his infections cleared up with antibiotics also not surprised he had you wait. If he was on the fence about tubes before then it seems like if your LO doesn't respond to oral antibiotics again or gets on the same cycle of ear infections it'd tip him towards tubes pretty easily. Sounds like tubes are right around the corner for you. Ear infections stink and it's terrible seeing your LO in pain.
Not ear related, but DS1 had his tonsils and adenoids out a month ago. Dr Young had us wait 6 months of symptoms (snoring & sleep apnea) before doing surgery, even though he was sure that he'd still end up needing it. Point is, it doesn't seem like he shys away from intervention, just follows protocal closely.
Good luck and sorry for my rambling...hope it made some sense!
AJ had back-to-back ear infections from January to July. We saw Dr. Young in August and he said we could wait and see. At that time there was fluid behind his eardrum and Dr. Young said if it didn't go away, that's reason enough for tubes. So we went back in October, and even though he hadn't had an infection in several months, the fluid was still there. AJ had surgery the following week.
I'd go ahead with surgery if I were you. As you said, it's only October and this could be a brutal winter for poor Cam. I don't think I've ever heard of a time when tubes were optional (or wait and see) where the child outgrew the problem on his own.
Isn't it kind of ridiculous the amount of infections and medicine kids have to go through before tubes? I always wished I could have followed my instincts and choose for myself when tubes were necessary. At about the 3rd or 4th infection, I knew it would be the ultimate outcome, and it's crazy AJ had to suffer through so much more before we got the green light. Anyway, just ranting....
I think G followed a similar pattern as Cameron and at similar ages (G has an August birthday). G had enough ear infections to be referred to an ENT when he was 7 or 8 months old. The cold and flu season was winding down so Dr. Young wanted to see how he did. He was ok for awhile but then they started up again. G didn't have any issues with the fluid not clearing up. The antibiotics always worked. Dr. Young wasn't on the fence but kind of left it up to me. The infections weren't causing hearing problems and the antibiotics did the trick, but every time he got a cold he would get an ear infection. I went with the tubes. Dr. Young said that is what most parents would choose. I asked if I was doing the right thing or maybe I asked if I was doing a bad thing. Either way he was reassuring. So many others deal with the fluid that never goes away so it is more clear cut. I felt that since G's always got better it was a more difficult decision. I completely trust Dr. Young. He doesn't shoot from the hip. I like that.
I think at this point he is either going to highly suggest tubes, or leave the decision up to you with his medical input, and I assume you're leaning that way? We had about 8 months of constant infections requiring high dose antibiotics (always augmentin or rocephin) and continuous fluid behind the eardrums before G got her tubes. He said he was kind of surprised adam didn't bring her in sooner, but adam was hesitant to jump to them.
Ingrid got tubes sooner since we had already been through it w/ G and knew what a tough road it can be. She had similarly bad infections, but didn't have them as long before we had the tubes. I think Dr. Young left it largely up to adam b/c of their professional relationship. I do think he does defer to parents when either decision is appropriate, so I would surprised if he didn't in your case.
Honestly, I don't think i'd get a 2nd opinion for anything Dr. Young told me. He is so incredibly intelligent and has so much experience that I don't know what else someone could offer. If I was ever in a situation where I felt I wanted someone else's opinion, it would have to be someone out of town b/c no one else in DM is as qualified as he is (I would definitely want to see a pediatric ENT and no one else here is). I think you'll be satisifed w/ your outcome from another visit, just tell him your concerns about his infections and upcoming winter months.
I had the opposite with Dr. Young. Kellen went in after about 7 back-to-back infections during the winter and Dr. Young stated that he had fluid in his ears. He had us wait 4 weeks to see if the fluid would naturally clear, and it didn't, so we did tubes. At first, I was really scared, because I didn't fully understand what the surgery entailed, but now am so happy we did it. I would say that Dr. Young would go forth with the tubes if he sees a pattern going on, especially now that we are in the midst of infection season. Does Cam have fluid buildup? I think that was a major reason Kellen got the tubes; poor kid could hardly hear anything!
On a side note, my boss told me this story about a friend of his. He said his friend called him and asked how to get Augmentin to stay in her child. He asked if she was using an liquid, and she said yes, he asked if she was using a syringe and she said yes, but it kept dripping out. He was stumped, and asked if she was trying to aim for the baby's inner cheek. She said, why would I do that, I am putting it in her ear!.
O.M.G.
Thanks everyone!
I have already been a little concerned about his language development, so the ear problems don't help with those worries at all. He has had fluid through most of this, but it does occasionally clear up.
And grbnik - um....wow! She put it in her kid's ear???
Isn't that crazy???!!!! Look at the directions on the bottle people!!!