Due to Ryan's frequent ear infections, we went back in to see Dr. Moe, our ENT Specialist. I really like Dr. Moe. He's a happy man. I like happy people.
Dr. Moe looked in both ears. The right ear was difficult to view due to so much junk. So, he cleaned it out using the help of a microscope. It was very gentle and obviously much less bothersome than having it "washed" out.
Once Dr Moe could view the ear, he saw that the left ear was clear and the right ear had no infection but he could still see the "yellow fluid behind the ear." This means the antibiotics we have been giving for the past week are working.
Dr Moe recommended that we put tubes in Ryan's ears to help with the drainage. This is normally a very easy procedure done with mask sedation in an outpatient surgical center. However, due to Ryan's health challenges, we are going to be doing it at our local hospital. And, since we are going to be at the hospital they are also going to do a hearing test. The addition of the hearing test will extend the procedure to over an hour and will require anesthesia.
Are you curious how they do a hearing test on a child that is under anesthesia? I was. I was curious how they do an accurate hearing test on any young child, especially a non-verbal, non-mobile, cortically blind child. Well ... they use a series of clicks and monitor the brain's response to the clicks. Cool, right? Isn't it amazing the technology that exists? Isn't it amazing that our body's were designed in a way that allows them to do EEG's, etc?
Anyway ... we schedule the surgery and test for late August. I'll keep you posted.
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