Any advice re grommets please...

[barbie1]

Hello,
DD is 15 months and has had more than 8 ear infections over the last 6 to 8 months.
Countless appointments at the doctors have resulted in almost permanent use of antibiotics but the infections just keep coming back. The test for fluid shows no abnormality when the infection isn't present but during an infection there is little movement on the graph.
Her speech is fine, she has a wide range of vocabulary.
During an infection she is in pain and her sleep/ balance is effected.

We have just been to see a consultant who has a appointment for grommets tomorrow!

I'm frantically googling about the procedure, the pro's and con's etc.

Could anyone offer their own experiences?

Thank you

[DeWe]

DS had grommets at 20 months after continuous ear infections since 3 months old. (That is ear infection day 1, antibiotics given day 5-7 antibiotics finish. Day 8 going downhill again to another ear infection by day 10). He had grommets, he wasn't brilliant afterwards as he was brewing an ear infection when he had them in, but between than and when they came out 18 months later he had one ear infection. His speech dramatically improved over the month afterwards too, his speech wasn't poor, but his vocabulary doubled.
Unfortunately when they came out he reverted back to ear infections, usually accompanied by perforation, so has had a second set in.
Definitely recommend grommets, it's made a huge difference in his hearing, and behaviour too.

[barbie1]

dewe thank you so much for replying. Your ds sounds very much like my dd.
Can i ask how long it took after for him to recover? Also how long did the first set last?

[barbie1]

Bumping for any more experience that can calm my nerves!

[BuddhaBelly]

Barbie As you know I'm in the same situation as you, all I will say is don't do what I did and delay the referral for the op as it looks as if my lo now has permanant nerve damage I really thought I was doing the right thing and that he would grow out of it but unfortunately it's just got worse. Same as you speech seems fine at the moment but hearing tests show detoriation over such a short space of time. We have given up on anti-b's as they don't seem to help and just give him a really sore bottom!
Will keep you updated after our appointment next Friday Have you had a date yet?

[monkeybumsmum]

Hi barbie and buddha Just a quicky as making supper, but just to say that ds had grommets put in last year, and they made a HUGE difference immediately. We noticed the same afternoon that his speech had already improved

Barbie You are definately doing the right thing by having it done early. DS didn't have his until just before he was 3, and I feel that this was the case because he's still really struggling with his speech. The thing with him was that he wasn't having repeat ear infections, he only had one when he was less then a year old, but it was a bad one, so we think that did the damage.

As for the actual procedure, yes it is horrible watching them being wheeled away, and the wait is awful, but it was worth it. They gave ds some medicine to make him sleepy before he went down, so there was no hysterical moment when we had to say goodbye and him be dragged away, which is one of things I was so scared about. The team we had were fab, and obviously knew how to handle children. He wasn't traumatised by it, and the same afternoon polished off a massive amount of ice-cream, so it can't have been that awful!

Buddha I'm so sorry that your ds has got nerve damage. You must feel awful, but you did what you thought was the best for him, after all it makes perfect sense to give him a chance to grow out of it if that's what I think you were told. Everything is a bit of a gamble really, and it is so difficult knowing what to do. We were even told by one lady that ds didn't have a hearing problem and if we'd have listened to her things would have got much worse. Your ds is still only young, perhaps it will all improve after he has his grommets. FX anyway x

Right, better go as the cauli is overcooking! Love to both of you x

[DeWe]

The first set lasted about 18 months. They came out between 16 months and 19 months.
The first time he took a little time to recover because he caught a D &V three days later and ended up in A & E with dehydration. There was some question whether it could have been a reaction to the anasthetic, so the second time they put antisickness stuff in his drip, although they thought it was very unlikely. His temperature also came up before we left hospital, although he was quite happy playing there.
Second time he took about an hour to recover before he was bouncing round the ward, having a wrestling match with another little boy and munching his way through all food he could find. The most distressing thing for him that time was they keep the drip in his hand until they was happy with him to go home.
Both times he was upset at having woken in an unknown room without me. The hardest thing for me was seeing him go off to sleep and wheeled off. I was surprised at how emotional I felt. Don't know how people cope when they're going in for a serious life changing operation.
I think it was easier for him the first time, although medically he had a harder time because he just accepted what was happening. The second time he needed to have everything explained and was questioning things.
From the 6 week check up, I know his hearing this time has improved from out of the normal band into normal, which is great. It's harder to test when they're smaller.

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

DD had hers put in when she was eight. They lasted for a year in one ear and the other came out a couple of weeks ago. She is 10 now.
The actual surgery took about 2o minutes and she recovered perfectly well. The difference in her hearing was astonishing. Hers was a hearing thing rather than an infection thing.
Good luck.

[oricella]

No experience on grommets, but an observation about the antibiotics - we had a similar situation from 12 months + and when we finally made it to an ENT consultant he put DD on a long term, low dose of AB (Zithromycin IIRC) - she got two weeks double dose, followed by 8 weeks of low dose. I think it was the breaks between AB that made them actually ineffective. Infections have been back occasionally, but cleared up quicker and stayed away longer and now at 2.5 she's hopefully outgrown the infections.

[BuddhaBelly]

Monkey Thanks for the info, it's not a definate on the nerve damage as yet but they stated it's a possibility, but trying not to beat myself up about that until we know for sure.
DeWe I had gone through the whole sending them off for the op but it hadn't even crossed my mind that he will wake up in an unknown room with strangers I'm distraught at that thought! DH said his parents were allowed in the recovery room when he had his op, I wonder if I could bribe the hospital