Friday, November 7, 2008

Allergies & Adenoids

Patrick is loud.  Now I know all children are loud, maybe especially boys, but Patrick is so loud, when we tried to have a tenant for one year, he drove her crazy, and I had his hearing tested because I was sure there was something wrong with him.  They said his hearing and his ears were perfect, so for the past two years we have endured, loud screaming, endless "what"s and frustrating communication.  At seven years old he fails his hearing test and we go back to the ENT.  This time they say he has conductive hearing loss.  This time they say his adenoids are too big.  This time they say he needs tubes in his ears.  This time they say he needs surgery to have his adenoids removed.  This time I get a second opinion.  And again and again all the specialists agree he needs tubes in his ears and his adenoids removed.  I am left feeling relieved and validated.  I have said for years that there is something wrong with him and the specialists said the exact words I have been saying.  "He hears as if he is underwater."  "Allergy medicine won't work when he is that congested and the tubes are that clogged."   I am also left feeling sad that he has been in this state and that I was assuming his hearing was fine, because after all, we'd been to a specialist.  And of course frustrated because I was right about this in the first place and felt so much time had been wasted.   So many of his strange habits have been explained because of this anatomical discovery.  He blows out his nose, won't go underwater without a mask, chokes on food, screams at you when sitting right next to you.  His hearing was bad enough that he would need a hearing aid if it was neural, but luckily it is only conductive.  No air can get in through his nose, so there is no air flow behind his ears, which means he is in a constant un-popped ear condition, a vacuum sucking and trapping fluid into his nonfunctioning eustachian tubes.  Where do I sign for surgery?

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