As suspected...

At Jack's last ENT visit in March, we were warned that if he got another ear infection, we had to discuss tubes. Well, not only did he have one, he had two (in April and June). And then he had a hearing test on July 1. I scheduled it back in March because the ENT figured by early July, the fluid that was in his ears in March would be cleared. Unfortunately, he had an ear infection just 3 weeks prior to the hearing test and it was his worst hearing test to date. Instead of mild hearing loss, he has moderate hearing loss.... which means if you talk to him in a normal voice without any other noise, he hears you. But if you drop your voice slightly or if there is other noise (or distraction) around, he can't hear you.

We met with the ENT again today.... there was nodiscussion... Jack is getting a second set of tubes put in. He has major fluid in his ears; discolored fluid at that (a result from being sick). So the ENT put him on antibiotics to clear up the cold.

80% of kids who get tubes only needs them once. Jack falls into the 20% who needs another set of tubes. This time around, the tubes will be slightly larger to hopefully help out more. We also talked about adenoids.

When Jack was 16 months old, he had an abscess in his throat and as a result, had his tonsils and adenoids removed. 5% of kids who have their adenoids removed before age 2, have the adenoids grow back. Apparently there is something bad that adenoids do with kids with reoccurring ear infections. So we're getting an x-ray done to determine if the adenoids have grown back. If so, the ENT will remove them during the same surgery when he puts the tubes in.

We're actually relieved that Jack is getting tubes put back it. His hearing loss is very apparent. Jack's testing at the end of the school year wasn't at expectation and we're sure the reason is that he couldn't hear the test. He turns up the TV volume much louder than needed. He talks louder to hear himself. We almost are yelling at him so that he can hear us. And most importantly, we're willing to do anything to ensure this hearing loss isn't permanent. There are risks with multiple tubes (scaring) but there really is no other option.