Does anyone out there have any experience with needing to sedate their kid to clean out their ears?
Long story short, Leo had an ear infection a few weeks ago. His ped pronounced one of his tubes had "fallen out" and to follow up with the ENT in a few weeks. We went yesterday and the ENT said that Leo's ear was too filled with wax for him to be able to see anything (I know, ick!) and that the only way to clean it properly would be to sedate him (no I.V. or intubation, just some gas and it would take five minutes). He said if the tube was out, he'd clean out the ears, suck up the fluid and maybe put it another set of tubes.
This just sounds, I don't know...extreme. For waxy ears? Sedation? I spoke to Leo's old ENT today and he said maybe once he's had to sedate an older, uncooperative child who he could not restrain. But that he would never sedate Leo. But, he also said that he would recommend getting those tubes taken out anyway, since he doesn't like them to be in longer than two years (and we're approaching the two-year mark).
Trouble is, this doctor is in Manhattan, not so far geographically but such a headache to get Leo into, on a weekday (traffic, traffic, $ to park and oh did I mention traffic?). Not that I would let a little traffic and $ stand in the way of my kid receiving the best medical care, but I'm just wondering if it's worth the hassle.
And...I have to say that the time Leo was restrained (not sedated) in order to get a tube removed by this previous doctor (which I think is similar in trauma speak for a four-year-old), that probably took a few years off my life (Leo screamed so loud and hard that he split his lip in two places. Yes there was blood, he cried so hard). Which is making me think, maybe sedation isn't so bad?
But I'm open to opinions. I know there are some ENT veteran mommies out there. Please, speak up! What would you do?
3 comments:
Can you go back to the old ENT? He sounds much more reasonable. Or can you find another one?
I don't know. If Leo will be that traumatized, then yeah, sedate him. On the other hand, I'm not wild about the casual use of "eh, we'll just knock him out".
Does he need new tubes?
So far, none of my kids had to see an ENT. So here's my expert opinion...:)
If I were you, and had a kid that was traumatized the first go-round, my first inclination would be to do the sedation. Because I avoid confrontation and screaming at all costs.
But I don't like the way the ENT just automatically wants to do it right off the bat. That would put me off. Maybe Leo's grown up enough that he'd weather the procedure a little better...I don't know.
So what I'd probably end up doing is going back to the old ENT just because you like him, even if it's a total pain. Then, if Leo needs sedation as the whole shebang gets going, they can decide to do it at that point.
Kayla has an ENT appointment next week. I know that the past few times we've been to her regular pediatricians they can't see anything because there's too much wax. I wonder if she can even hear much and if it has any effect on her lack of speech.
Anyway, the last time we went to the ENT 3 or 4 months ago, he looked in her ears, said there was a bunch of wax, debated about cleaning it out, but decided not to (I think he didn't want to be bothered!). So we'll see what he decideds to do this time.
As for the trauma thing, well, I think they forget when they are young and it's just an occasional thing. My now 7 year old had a traumatic experience with the dentist when she was 2 1/2 (I had to physically lay on her while the dentist did the fillings) and has absolutely no recollection of it.
Post a Comment