Gromits.DD2 needs them. What can i expect ?

[MaggsS]

Hi,
DD2 was born with a cleft lip and palette and has gone through 3 operations. Now at 2 we have been told she needs gromits as she is very deaf.
Has anyone else had experience of this? What does the op involve and did it improve your childs hearing / speech?
Any advice?

DS1 has had 3 lots so the first thing to know is that they fall out so you may need more than one op. that said the op is very quick, each time DS has been out playing the same day. Speech is not a prob for DS but he does have a severe hearing loss, initially hearing has improved each time but obviously these gains are lost as they fall out and the glue returns. DS is now 7 and I am hoping he will grow out of the glue before this lot fall out.

DD1 had gromits inserted earlier this year. The most annoying thing was the the operation was in the afternoon, and they told me she had to be nil-by-mouth from the night before - that would have been no food or drink for nearly a total of 24 hours - far too long.

I ignored them and gave her a very light breakfast of toast and some water at 6am. She went in for the operation at 3pm, so had been nil by mouth for 9 hours, and even that was long, and hard to explain to her, especially as she is four years old and very capable of helping herself to food in the fridge, so I had to watch her like a hawk.

If you can, try and ask for the operation to be in the morning.

The operation itself was very fast, but she screamed and lashed about for ages as she was coming out of the aneasthetic and that was quite distressing. But by the evening she was fine.

Since then, her speech has improved a great deal and she is rapidly catching up with her peers. And her behaviour has improved as well, but whether this is due to her getting older or due to the gromits is hard to say.

Thank for the info.
You don't need an overnight stay then? With 2 other lo's it's a bit tricky when I have to go and stay in hospital with her.
I am really worried about her speech. S he is bright and happy inher self and never stops "talking" but the only words she has is "bye" and "mama" I can make out what she is trying to tell me and we are learning Makaton together.
I really hope this helps. I just hate putting her through yet another op.

my dd1 was back at nursery the following day! no problems, I've never heard of an over night stay for gromits.

Thanks belgo

My son had grommets at three and half years old. He also had his adenoids out at the same time. We went in at 6am in the morning and he was home by lunch time. The operation was very easy.

The only problem we had were that the grommets got infected. They came out after 8 weeks and it took quite a long time for the holes to heal. My son now has quite bad scarring on both ears.

However what happened to my son is very rare. Our ENT consultant said it only happens to 1 in 100 children. In spite of problems with the op the grommets did improve my son's hearing. 6 weeks before the operation we had an extremely negative SLT assessment, 3 months after the op my son's speech development was in line with his age group.

The grommets did improve my son's hearing, but when the glue came back we opted for hearing aids instead. Hearing aids are not quite as good as grommets for improving hearing, but they do have the advantage of needing an operation.

It might be worth seeing if paedatric audiology will make ear moulds for your child.

Its likely that the ENT surgeon will tell you not to take your child swimming. However its not an option not wash your child's hair for 6 months.