The Sol Three

Written weeks ago, figured I'd go ahead and share!
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I've written multiple times about the things I hope do happen for our baby but I guess I forget about those things I hope do not happen.  This week I was reminded of the one thing that has happened in my life that I have to think about and deal with almost every single day and that is the anniversary of my first major ear surgery.  Lots of people close to me know that I have had several surgeries but I rarely discuss what actually happened to warrant so many times under the knife.  I think I'll explain that here and of course hope that no one has to deal with this ever in their kids' lives.  This is the stuff I remember and it may not be in chronological order.  My Mom remembers everything, though, and that's the part I hope I don't have to do as a Mom.  It isn't fun to look back on these types of things.

Let's go way back to 1989.  I was just a little kid, enjoying Kindergarden and spending time with all kinds of friends.  I don't remember much about that time in my life but what I do remember is being at the doctor a lot.  Mom said I had ear infections nearly all the time.  They weren't your average, run of the mill ear infections either.  Mine were horribly bad, complete with brownish discharge and extremely painful ear aches.  Mom has told me that she would take me to the doctor, they'd put me on antibiotics, it would appear the ear infection got better, and within a week or two it'd be back.  Same symptoms, everything.  I'm now immune to amoxicillin and several other lower end antibiotics, probably from being dosed so often.

Finally my family practitioner referred us to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist named Dr. Hoyt.  I remember vividly the first few times I met Dr. Hoyt.  He scared the living daylights out of me!  He was dry and seemed almost insensitive.  Plus, some of what he did to get me diagnosed and treated hurt.  When you're in Kindergarden, try understanding that pain is actually going to help you in the end.  He immediately suggested that I get tubes in my ear so we scheduled the surgery for the fall.

I don't remember the surgery that I was to get tubes and I don't remember anything after it either.  Here's what my mom told me.  I went in for tubes and the doctors came out, saying that they needed to see my parents in a private conference room.  Dr. Hoyt said over and over that I was fine but they found "something."  In the conference room, he explained that he had found a coleasteatoma, a bone eating "tumor" caused from under developed eustacian tubes (the tubes that run from your inner ear to nose and equalize pressure).  He found that mine were only 1/8th the size of a normal persons.  Here's a link explaining exactly what the tumor is:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002045.  You can find pictures online too, but they're pretty graphic so I won't put them here.  Dr. Hoyt didn't know how bad the tumor was yet but wanted to schedule surgery to fix it.  It didn't have to be right away so Mom and Dad decided to give me a fun Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthday followed by the surgery.  The date was set for February 15th, 1989.

I remember that day better than almost any other day.  Mom and Dad gave me a praying doll for Valentine's Day and I took her with me to the hospital.  We arrived and I was prepped but they didn't do the IV because I was scared of needles.  We opted to go the gas route for me to go to sleep and I will say, I never wish THAT on anyone.  I remember sitting in my hospital gown watching cartoons while the nurse hooked me up to the oxygen monitor on my finger.  It was pretty cool!  It clamped shut and had a red light!  Eventually the doctors came to take me to the operating room in a red wagon.  I remember crying and being upset but Mom and Dad couldn't come because the operating room was a sterile environment.  They did make an exception and let me take the doll, though.  I remember getting onto the gourney and seeing all of the bright lights and I distinctly remember the anesthesiologist standing over my head, putting the mask over my face and counting backwards...10....9.....8...........

I sort of remember the recovery room but I definitely remember the hospital stay.  Mom and my Grandma Mac were there.  I had the worst, most bitchy nurse on the face of the planet.  I wish she would have gotten fired.  Maybe she did.  I was hooked up to IV fluids the whole time and was sicker than a dog from the gas they used to put me to sleep.  Mom and Grandma needed to eat so they went to the cafeteria and bitchy nurse got pissed when I pushed the button to use the restroom for the third time in less than 30 minutes.  Embarassing as this is, I'll tell you because you should know this if your kid is ever in the hospital.  She came in and yelled at me after that third time, saying she had other patients and couldn't help me.  She left...and made me wet the bed.  Twice.  When Mom and Grandma came back, they were PISSED.  And trust me, you never want to see my Mom mad.  It isn't pretty!

I had to wear a weird cup over my ear for a while to let the ear drain.  I wore it at school and at Aunt Dawn's house, my babysitter.  At one point she had to call my Mom and explain that there was "stuff" flowing from under the cup and I should probably go to the doctor.  Apparently that was normal though, my ear cup didn't catch it.  Otherwise, recovery was easy...and I got to keep my hearing!  Dr. Hoyt is probably my hero and even now just the thought of him makes me want to cry.  We sent my school pictures to him every year until he retired.  He saved my hearing by building me an ear drum.  Mine isn't like everyone else's.  It's "fake."  I'm also a bit of an anomoly so doctors love to meet me.  Few people have this type of tumor and the type of recovery I have had so the doctors like to look at everything, show their students, and ask me lots of questions.  I give Dr. Hoyt a lot of credit but my Mom was a big part of it too.  Through the next 4 or 5 surgeries, she was always there.  She always made sure I took my meds, went to my appointments, took time off work to go with me, etc.  I don't remember ever having to go to the really important appointments alone.

There are some things that I can't do because there is no "cure" or "fix" for my eustacian tubes.  I can't fly very often and when I do, it's quite painful to land.  I generally do okay going up but coming down is the worst.  Robin has been there through several trips and he has helped keep me occupied so I don't focus only on the pain.  I can never scuba dive.  That is probably the most disappointing part.  I love to swim, love the water, and I love fish and coral reefs.  But I can only snorkel so I hope that that will be enough.  I also can't sky dive but I'm not at all worried about that.  I hate heights!

Moral of the story:  Don't ignore ear infections.  Tubes are not the end of the world.  You could have a kid like me!  I had tubes after all of this, too!  And if you think something isn't right, keep trying to get a diagnosis.  Even if you're wrong, it's better to be safe than sorry.  If Mom hadn't kept going to the doctor or trying to find an answer, I could be deaf right now.  Someday I might need a hearing aide but thankfully, that day hasn't come yet!