Logan's ears

Yay! Logan's ENT appointment went very well! He's scheduled to have ear tube and adenoid removal surgery on December 15th. I'm thrilled to get the surgery in this calendar year when we've already met some of our huge insurance deductible. Before seeing the doctor, Logan saw the audiologist and had his hearing tested. She said he has no inner ear damage and therefore none of his hearing loss is permanent. Hooray for that! She also said his ear drums in both ears aren't vibrating at all so his hearing is pretty bad right now, especially in situations like school where there's a lot of background noise when the teacher is talking. That's also possibly why I hadn't noticed the increasingly bad hearing at home because without all the "clutter noise" he seems to hear me just fine.


The doctor surprised me speechless with the adenoid surgery. I had obviously expected ear tubes, but since I don't know what adenoids are or what they do, I hadn't considered their removal. Logan's not a big mouth breather or snorer; it wasn't something I'd thought of. Anyway, he said adenoids work as a "sewer" for the eustachian tubes, keeping the tubes filled with fluid. In kids Logan's age removing the adenoids almost always helps noticeably with the ear problems. Ok. The doc picked up on my surprise and went on about how we could wait and see and do the adenoids later, but I assured him I was just surprised and needed time to process the news. I most certainly DO want them removed if it will help Logan hear better!

Meanwhile, a nurse at the office scared me straight about my torn tendon! She went on and on about a similar problem she had last year, but her tendon (probably the same one) completely ruptured. She had multiple surgeries that included removing tendon from another part of her body and transplanting it to her foot. She also had much of her foot and ankle rebuilt with metal plates. YIKES! My foot hasn't touched the ground since hearing that horrible story! I will be a good girl and use crutches and bear no weight on my foot!

My good news about my foot was that I complained to my doc about how awful my air cast is when I am just sitting in my chair. I told him I understand my foot needs to be stabilized, but it hurts worse with the 10 pound cast dragging it sideways (due to gravity) and isn't there something LIGHTER I can wear while I'm sitting around doing nothing? (The air cast is a walking boot with a thick sole and goes up to my knee- good for working in, bad for sitting around with your feet up!) He gave me a very lightweight surgical shoe. Yippee! It's like going from steel toed hip waders to flip-flops! Soooooooo much more comfortable!