Thomas' Ears

On February 26th, I took Thomas to the pediatrician for his sixth ear infection in four months. I decided before heading to the Pediatric Clinic that this was our sixth and final ear infection. Jared and I had made the decision to see an ENT, but we wanted the pediatrician to agree. Dr. Dennis, the pediatrician, agreed and told us to line up an appointment with an ENT of our choice.

The decision was easy. Dr. Robert Ostendorf, Dr. Bobby to his friends, had already talked with us countless times about Thomas' ears. We really struggled with what decision was the "right" decision. Thomas' ears would always clear up after an ear infection, but we couldn't decide how much fluid was being left in his ears that was unseen.

Tuesday, March 28th, Thomas and I went to Bobby's office for a consultation. Bobby was able to perform an ear pressure test that showed Thomas had tons of pressure behind his ear drum. The level was too high... so high that Bobby was not happy with the results. The decision was made that on Monday, March 5th, Thomas would have tubes placed in his ears.

Today, is Monday, March 5th and the tubes were placed in Thomas' ears at 8:30am. Thomas was a great patient and Bobby was an exceptional doctor. We feel so lucky to call Bobby not only our doctor, but friend. He is kind, gentle, thoughtful, and very detailed. Once h

e operated all of our fears were confirmed, Thomas had fluid built up that was so thick and protein based that no antibiotic would have every cleared it up. We are so happy with the decision that we made.

Jared and I try to always stay positive when tough things are going on in our lives. Not many people know that Jared and I rarely sleep. Thomas still sleeps like a newborn. We are up a minimum of two times a night and when we are up it is normally for at least an hour. Thomas also naps minimally. After the fluid that Bobby drained off today, we are hoping that our sleeping situation improves. Bobby said that the fluid in Thomas ears would have been causing him a lot of discomfort. - We have also been afraid that Thomas was not hearing 100%. Yes, Morris is very verbal and maybe not the best judge of speech milestones, but we were still worried. We are hoping to see improvement in speech and hearing over the next few weeks while fluid continues to drain off his ears.

Today we feel BLESSED... blessed that Thomas did great in surgery... blessed that Dr. Ostendorf is a friend and gifted doctor... blessed for friends and

family that checked on us all day... BLESSED!