Sozlet stories

Yeah. :-)

I'd given her the eardrum-bursting detail earlier, though, and that's really the more pertinent part.

To back up -- I've given bits and pieces of the story various places but don't think the whole thing has gone here, so quick (?) summary:

Sozlet has been a very healthy kid until last fall. No ear infections at all until she was almost 3, and then just one more after that before fall 2004. She just doesn't get sick very much.

Then we moved, and she started preschool, which was a germ double-whammy. She was introduced to preschool germs, but also introduced to Columbus germs -- she's the only kid in preschool who wasn't born here. Most of the kids have older siblings who would bring home germs, or they'd get exposure at the mall or gymnastics class or whatever. Sozlet got this exposure and some general immunity, but to a different community of specific strains of various viruses/ bacteria.

When she started preschool, she got sick, predictably -- so did lots of other kids -- but the thing that has made this so bad is that she got one initial ear infection that keeps coming back. How it works is that you get an ear infection, there is a build-up of fluid in the middle ear -- the antibiotics kill the bacteria, but the antibiotics don't do anything about the fluid. The fluid just has to be reabsorbed, which takes a while.

The problem was, before the fluid had a chance to reabsorb, more bacteria would be introduced, and she'd get an ear infection like that *snap* because it was such a hospitable environment. So that keeps happening.

I need to keep her from getting an ear infection long enough for the fluid to reabsorb -- then she'll be back at baseline. If she doesn't have a bunch of fluid in her middle ear, she can get sick and it's less likely to turn into an ear infection, she'll just be sick. That's the urgency now.

Also, because if the fluid is not given time to reabsorb, the doctor wants to put tubes in her ears to let the fluid leak out through her eardrum. I am very against that, and have already successfully argued to put off the determination until March 2nd. In my experience, and from my research, it often is the first step of invasive surgery, with the next step being an adenoidectomy, that still doesn't actually solve the problem -- the only thing that really solves the problem is the child growing up enough that the eustachian tubes move into a better (less ear-infection prone) alignment.

THOSE are the details I provided bfm already. :-) That is more the point than fever and vomiting, though that's certainly unpleasant.

Sozlet's been plenty tough and healthy before the move + preschool, just need to get her through this and build up more of an immunity.

thanks for the clear info - what age are the tubes in a better position? is this a long wait? I do hope not - and yes, invasive surgery is best avoided. Grommets in the ears are often lost and displaced as well.

I'm curious, and feel free to shoot me down on this because I don't really know, but can they give her a decongestant to sort of dry up the fluid?

My hubby had surgery on his ear drum (he had a hole in it) in hopes of recovering some hearing loss. For about a week before the surgery he had to take what I thought was an allergy medication. When I asked the doctor about it (hubby doesn't have allergies) he said it was to dry up the fluid in his ear before the surgery.

You're right, yep. We've been giving her two kinds of decongestant every day for -- whoa, a while now. A nasal spray and a regular syrup to take orally. Plus Claritin. It's been helping, I think, or at least she's been doing much better since I started going all out, but she just started facing new germs again two days ago, so the weekend will tell.

I just can't tell what's up with the fluid. When we went to the ENT about two weeks ago, she had a 40 db loss and they did a test where they see how the eardrum moves, and there was so much fluid in the middle ear that it didn't move the way it ought to. So we know there was a bunch then. Her hearing seems to be better since then but it's so hard to tell -- I was surprised it was 40 db at the time, I expected more like 20-30. The main thing I'm going by is where she wants the volume on the TV set, and that seems to be going down.

So better hearing would correllate with less fluid, but that's guesswork at this point.

We'll see!

Vivien, I forget what age -- a while yet, though. 8, maybe? (Grommets! Love it. :-))

I had tubes in my ears when I was a kid -- they were supposed to stay in for 18 months maximum and they stayed in for 5 years. Grr. And my ear infections continued unabated anyway.

I really like this thread and will come back offten to read up. I love hearing about kids and the crazy things they do.

My lil girls name is Melody and when I got her she was very small with tons of lil curls that people loved to play with. She loved to lay her head on peoples lap and have her hair played with. Well this one time i took her with me on a trip and we were waiting for the bus and I sat in an area where there wasn't that many people so she could explore a bit and not run into anyone. At the time she was just learned to walk and loved feeling around and walking as she is blind. Well this lady came and sat about 6 seats down and Mel heard her right away and started to make her way over to her. I started to stop her but the lady said oh it's ok. So I let her go over. Like always she layed her head on the lady's lap and the lady said what pretty curls and was touching them. Ok just to back up a bit I play a game with mel called guess the smell cause she can't see so I would work with what ever else she could do. Ok so back to the lady. All of a sudden i see Mels nose crinkle up and her head popped up in delight and said fish sticks? Mommy mommy fish sticks? normally I would praise her and say yay and make a big deal when she got it right but Omg I wanted to die. So did the lady I'm sure lol. I said I was sorry but if she heard me or not I'm not sure cause she was out of there in a rush. Plus many people heard her so there was a roar of laughter. The things kids say at the worst of times eh?

sozobe,
Sorry to hear about the fluid, infections, repeated exposures to new germs, etc., etc.

Have there been any advances in technology re draining tubes since you had them? What about the (way out) thought of getting a syringe in there to drain off fluid periodically? Anything possible there?

What are the long term consequences, if any, of staying on decongestants? Just curious.

Devious_Britches, that is hilarious. I think I might have peed my pants laughing about that one.

Oh my! :-D

Hi sumac,

Yeah, just noted on Kristie's "weekend" thread (not sure if that's what brought you here -- this is a better place for it anyway) that she got sick again on Friday, I threw everything I had at it (medicine, rest, foods, etc.), she was *much* better yesterday, not enough sleep last night (by quite a margin -- usually needs 10-11 hours of sleep, got 7.5), and not doing well today. Grumpy, feverish (although that hasn't been as bad as feared), not hearing well (after getting back to normal for about 2 weeks), and complained about an hour ago that her ears hurt.

So, I went through freakout mode and am now just trying to minimize. This happened in December too and we came through that with neither antibiotics nor a perforation, just went away after a bit.

Researched decongestant and the kinds we're using are fine for how long we've been using them. Definitely seem to be helping in general (the fact that her hearing did get back to normal for example.)

The technology (tubes) has undoubtedly improved though the basics are pretty much exactly the same. We know a girl a couple of years older than sozlet who recently had tubes put in -- when she was about 4 I think. Her dad said they helped, but then also she had an adenoidectomy after that. And that *didn't* help, she still gets ear infections. (Both parents work, she's in daycare/ kindergarten.)

I am currently strongly against tubes, but also continuing to research. Hope to not have to cross that bridge, putting most of my efforts there for now.

Oh, poor soz and sozlet. That really sucks. And you even ran and got her out of preschool! It must've been already too late. Bummer.

Poor, poor, kid. I wish there was something I could suggest. You being home with her is probably the best thing she has going for her. Hang in there.

Folk wisdom--

I don't know what sort of temperatures you're having in Ohio, but if the mercury rises above 55 degrees, you might make a ceremonial point of wrapping her up (especially about the ears) and exposing her face to direct sunlight for 15-20 minutes a day.

At lower temperatures, try sunlight-through-glass which will have only symbolic value, but I can appreciate your need to Do Something besides kick fate in her metaphorical shins.

Does your yard have a sheltered area that would serve as an out-of-the-wind suntrap?

Artificial Vitamin D might also help.

Hold your dominion.

Good point, Noddy. I notice that when my kids are sick, at some point it just feels like they need to go outside, especially if the sun is shining. Something about fresh air and sunshine. But I can see that sozlet's problem is probably a little bit more complicated.

Sun/heat lamp? THe kind they use to lift seasonal affective disorders?

A good lighting supply store sells full spectrum neon bulbs--I use them in my light box.

Note: I don't mean infra-red snoop lights or ultra-violet tanning lights. I mean full visible spectrum.

Good point, thanks.

31 degrees, but we could probably manage something.

One thing I don't think I recorded here -- when my mom came to visit after Christmas, we talked about my own ear infections. On the way to the airport, we talked some more, and she remarked that I never was in any pain, nor had fevers. I asked, well how did you know I had an ear infection then? She said because your hearing went down. I said what if that was just an early manifestation of what ended up happening later? She said um.

She missed the airport exit.

Not sure if anything will come of that (after that was a rush of getting to airport and dropping her off, and haven't talked about it more via email), but could be an interesting wrinkle.

Hmmm. That's making me think. My son has problems with occasional hearing loss. Doctors have always told me it was because he has hard wax and it builds up frequently. Now I am thinking maybe I should take him to a specialist.

Hmmm, is right.

I wonder if there is anything that can be put in the ears, kind of like a prophylactic, to diminish infections from getting in? Assuming that they aren't traveling via fluids in the brain/blood to the inner ear fluid?

That's what we use Vosol for (or whatever it's current name is). It's a slightly acidic eardrop that doesn't let anything nasty start growing. I can always tell when I've been lax about using the drops - the urge to stick a knitting needle in my ear picks up

A little mid-winter trivia for the sozlet:

Groundhog Day derives from the European Candlemas Day, a
Christianized version of the Celtic holiday of Imbolc,
celebrated midway between the Winter Solstice and
Spring Equinox.

During Candlemas, clergy would bless and distribute
candles to their parishioners' homes. The candles would
be lighted and placed in the window. If the sun came out
that day, it meant six more weeks of wintry weather. If
the day was cloudy or rainy it marked moderate weather
until the first day of Spring.

The Germans that settled around Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
in the 1700's brought the Candelmas tradition with them.

When the groundhog pops his head up after his winter
hibernation, he is the marker for the season. If he sees
his shadow, he gets scared and goes back to sleep for
six weeks, avoiding the bad weather to come. If the day
is cloudy and his shadow is obscured, he exits his den
and Spring is considered to be just around the corner.

They come from the inside, through eustachian tubes, which connect to mouth/ nose. (Hence Ear Nose and Throat specialists -- all connected.) The infections occur in the middle ear, and unless there is a perforation in the ear drum, there's no way for the bacteria to get in from the outside.

Meanwhile, I'm cautiously optimistic -- last night was the first where I didn't have to give her Motrin in the middle of the night due to fever, no major fevers yet today. (Warming up as I type, though.) She only complained about her ear hurting that one time, and when I asked her recently when her ears last hurt she said, "oh, a long time ago. 100 ago." (Not sure what unit she was using.) I don't think we're out of the woods yet, but things are much better than I feared they would be at this point a couple of days ago.

FreeDuck, I've definitely experienced the wax thing, remember it clearly -- how things sounded before and after. I know someone who adopted a deaf toddler from Russia -- purposely wanted to adopt a deaf child -- only to find after a couple of visits to the pediatrician that he just had wax build-up. When that was removed, he could hear fine. (A bit of a reverse crisis from the usual. "But I wanted a deaf child!" *sob*)

Which is to say, whatever happened to me is vanishingly rare -- when it was being thoroughly investigated I was one of 6 people or something that they knew of it happening to, ever -- and the wax situation is pretty common.

Cool trivia, thanks! :-)

It sounds like Vosol would be more for swimmer's ear/ glue ear sorts of infections, in the ear canal.