Addie's Ears

Last Thursday was Addie's ear appointment. She was as nervous as a wet hen, if wet hen's are nervous anyway.

We did a few fun things before her appointment in an attempt to take her mind off the upcoming 1:00 doctor visit.

First thing in the morning, we did laundry. That didn't do too much to take her mind off the present day event.

So we loaded up and headed to Wal-Mart. She loves to go to Wal-Mart. I think she believes that she will convince her Mommy to purchase her all manner of things, but typically all she ends up with is a choice of candy from the check-out lane.

Yep. I'm that kind of Mom. Every time we hit the town we all get to choose a candy bar from the checkout lane. I know it's a waste of money. I know that candy isn't good for my children....or me for that matter. But old habits die hard. I started purchasing myself a candy bar way back before the children came along, and the habit has continued. The children love it! :) And so do I.

The M&M's she chose didn't keep her mind occupied, but they did help.

Next stop was McDonald's where all three children got the nasty chicken nuggets. Their choice. After reading some of the articles about them I can hardly stomach the things, but they love them!! I figure one batch of chicken nuggets every six months or so probably won't do too much damage.

I treated myself to a chicken supreme chalupa from the Taco Bell right next door to the McDonalds.

We took all our food to my grandparents house where a family sewing was happening.

The time for the dreaded doctor appointment came way to quickly in Addie's opinion. The whole way from Grandma's to the doctor she fretted and stewed about what the doctor would do to her.

I assurred her that the doctor wouldn't be cutting off her ears, but my assurances didn't seem to help much. :)

Her mood improved when she saw her Daddy waiting in the parking lot. If Daddy is around, everything is so much better!!

The appointment was painless, of course. They did an in depth hearing test and discovered that currently both ears are on the same level. Low hearing. A normal ear hears between the range of 0-25 with 0 being the best. Both her ears were a level 30.

Her right ear was full of fluid....we assume due to a cold that she was fighting at the time. Her left ear has a hole in the eardrum.

The doctor put her on amoxicillin to try to clear up the right ear. He also recommended that we keep her on Claritin or something similar to keep her head cleaned out for the next month or so. If there is still fluid in that ear she'll need tubes put in.

The right ear? We're hoping the hole heals up on its own. The doctor doesn't have high hopes of that happening as he said the edges of the hole appeared to be healed nicely. :) Not a good thing in this case. If the hole doesn't heal over in one month, he is scheduling her for surgery to put a patch on it.

Aarrrrggghhhh. That would make three children who all need some kind of surgery. Two little boys who could use the little boy surgery, and one little girl with ear surgery.

We're praying that the ear heals itself and that the fluid is all drained til her appointment on April 14th.

In the meantime, we're doing as the doctor said and repeating ourselves repeatedly when we talk to her. :) We're trying our best to be patient, but there's just something about a child who totally ignores the fact that you're talking to her that is just plain annoying. I know, I know. She truly can't hear us.

Not that it bothers her. She's still the happy helper that she's always been!!