ear tubes -- anyone NOT have a good outcome?

[Anonymous]

hi, all. ENT recommended tubes for DS. so far, ENT has been very wait-and-see, but after a summer ear infection that lasted a month, doc said it's a good idea to get tubes now.

I'm scared and nervous and worried about doing the wrong thing. the thought of DS having general anesthesia makes me crazy.

I've seen a lot of great posts in the archives from moms who were very happy about getting the tubes.

I wonder whether anyone on this board got tubes for DC and was not happy.

thank you.

[Anonymous]

THis is a SUPER easy procedure. My son had tubes and a T&A at the same time. Entire surgery took 15min. If it were tubes only, it MIGHT have took 5min. Honestly there is no reason to be scared. You should be more worried that your child is suffering with these chronic infections, you just have to keep it in perspective and not let the tail wag the dog.

I'm suprised they would put your child under general for tubes. Are you sure? Normally they do a twilight anathesia, not full on general. The only reason my son got general was b/c of the T&A.

No problems here. My son has not been sick since surgery in May and has slept beautifully through the night. He also is talking and eating more. I would do it 1,000 times over.

[Anonymous]

You know your child best but, for what it's worth, I'd hold off on tubes unless the infections are affecting your child's speech.

Our son, now 5, had pretty constant fluid in the ears and periodic infections until he was just short of 5. The pediatricians in his practice are all pretty conservative on tubes, absent clear speech/hearing problems (we had his hearing evaluated a couple of times - it was fine). There are some recent studies out there suggesting that tubes don't necessarily lead to any better outcomes for kids.

Again, it very much depends on your child - the fluid and even the infections never seemed to bother him much (except for one infection in the winter where he cried).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm suprised they would put your child under general for tubes. Are you sure? Normally they do a twilight anathesia, not full on general. The only reason my son got general was b/c of the T&A.

My daughter was put under general for her tubes. Maybe it has to do with age? (DD was 10 months old at the time).

Add us to the list of people who are very pleased with the outcome of the surgery. DD had fluid in her ears that was severely affecting her hearing (at one point she was essentially deaf in one ear and had 15-20% hearing in the other). Her doctor felt adamant that we get it done so that her speech/language wouldn't be further affected. The surgery itself took less than 15 minutes, they held her for another 10 maybe to recover from anesthesia. We were out of the hospital less than 1 hour after the surgery began. I was very scared and worried, and it turned out so well. No question that we would do it again!

[Anonymous]

Our life has been night and day before and after tubes.

Before: very little speech, poor sleep, chronic trips the the doctor, chronic fevers, constant irritability, a few trips to the ER for very high fevers, and constant antibiotics
After: not a single doctors visit since, new found love of dance and music, speech dramatically improving, not one day of missed work/school, and a general happiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our life has been night and day before and after tubes.

Before: very little speech, poor sleep, chronic trips the the doctor, chronic fevers, constant irritability, a few trips to the ER for very high fevers, and constant antibiotics
After: not a single doctors visit since, new found love of dance and music, speech dramatically improving, not one day of missed work/school, and a general happiness.

For what it's worth, I have many many friends who have had the procedure done for their children and every single one echoes the above. My 10 month old has chronic ear infections, but not quite to the point where we are considering tubes, but if it gets worse over the winter, I will not hesitate.

[Anonymous]

Thought I'd add our experience. DD had tubes at 9 months. Leading up to the procedure I had a great deal of anxiety, but it really was very simple and it took all of five minutes, literally.

To give a slightly different perspective from the "no more infections" camp, DD continued to get EIs this past fall and winter (the surgery was in the summer). That said, we don't have any regrets whatsoever. As a pp mentioned, a major concern is whether or not hearing and/or speech is being affected. DD had moderate hearing loss prior to tubes. After tubes, her hearing was at normal levels. Also, as our ENT told us, tubes are not a guarantee that EIs won't return. There is a small percentage, my DD being in that category, that will continue to get them. However, as he pointed out, w/o tubes the fluid would continue to pool up in the ear - with the tubes most of the fluid flows out, releaving the pressure and the build-up. So, despite continued infections, their effects were greatly reduced.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Anonymous]

OP here... thanks, everyone. it means a lot to me that you took the time to share.

[Anonymous]

About the only negative thing I could say was that my daughter had to have tubes twice -- the second time involved adenoid removal. She's 7 now and has only had one ear infection since the surgery -- and that was about 5 years ago. The infection was this past winter. I also had two sets of tubes as a kid. No other negatives -- I highly recommend and echo the opinions of the others posters here. A friend of mine takes her kid for acupuncture treatments for ear infections -- just so you know there are other treatment alternatives out there.