Ear Issues - Round 4

Jenkins has always been plagued with ear infections and had his first set of tubes put in a week after his 1st birthday. Since then we've been through another two sets of tubes and had his tonsils and adenoids removed. It's been a LONG road but it seems that he has FINALLY outgrown all the issues we've faced over the past 6 years. However, after the last set of tubes, he was left with holes in his ear drums that have not healed. We decided to take a "wait and see" approach this past year, praying that they would close on their own. Obviously, after our ENT visit this past Monday, we realized that it just isn't going to happen.

Our ENT suggested that we have the surgery needed to repair the ear drum and improve Jenkins' hearing over the summer. (Jenkins has a slight hearing loss due to the hole...but once corrected it should be fine) After lots of discussion and him looking in Jenk's ear like 1,000 times, he suggested that since we aren't having any issues right now that we do the surgery at the end of the summer so that Jenkins can enjoy all the water activities for the majority of the summer. After the procedure he'll need to keep his ears dry to aid with the healing. So.....surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, August 11th at McLeods.

I simply hate to think of Jenkins having to endure another procedure on his ears. The kid has been a trooper so far but with him being older this time around...I look for it to be a not-so-nice experience. I made the mistake of doing some research of the procedure (tympanoplasty) on the internet yesterday....and after reading how they will cut behind his ears and then do a tissue graf on the left ear drum...and a thin cartiledge graf on the right ear drum - well, it made me feel sick to my stomach. UUrrgghhhh...... I am praying that I can somehow put this issue out of my mind until the day before the procedure or else I'm going to go crazy over the next 2+ months!

Here's a pic of Jenkins before his last set of tubes. He was not thrilled over wearing the hospital gown...and my guess is that he'll be even less impressed with it this go 'round.