Paging Dr. Hansen

Bye bye ear infections! A few weeks ago, we finally received the green light for Sophia to get tubes. The last two visits to the ENT yielded this advice-blow up balloons and chew gum. Well, that advice didn't work so well. Sophia's had fluid since last spring and recently showed signs that the fluid in her ears was affecting her hearing. We were referred to another ENT a few weeks ago where they did a full hearing screening. The results showed that while there wasn't permanent damage, the fluid definitely was causing hearing loss. So today we trekked down to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. We checked in at 9 and were discharged around 1-all for what amounted to a 5 minute procedure!

So how did Miss Sophia do? Leading up to the big day, her main concerns centered around treats. When asked by her pediatrician and nurse today if she had any questions, she had one-would she get popsicles or ice cream? That's what she told the YMCA staff yesterday too when telling them about her surgery. She did ok until we got to the room and she was changed in her hospital attire. Then she started to have some anxiety about the anesthesia-concerned that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Luckily, being at a hospital serving children, there were plenty of people around to make her feel more comfortable. They showed her the mask that would help her fall asleep, let her pick out a chapstick flavor (she chose watermelon) to help disguise the odor of the anesthesia, showed her pictures and of course assured her that there would be popsicles afterward. I accompanied her to the operating room while she received the anesthesia. There were tears but who wouldn't be a little scared? Afterward, the doctor reported that everything went well and that there was lots of goop. The nurse said that the first thing she said in the recovery room after waking up was, "I can hear better." As she was being taken back to our room, we could hear the nurse relaying a message to the other nurse that she wanted popsicles. She was already on top of it. We'll go back to the ENT in a month so he can check her ears once more. My brave little girl did well today and now, no more excuses of "I can't hear you."