Ear Tubes

Miss Ella has battled ear infections since she was about four months old. This last infection lasted about eight weeks! Finally, on Friday, January 9, 2009, she had tubes put in to help the fluid in her ears drain.

As of Friday afternoon, you would have never known she was under any kind of anesthesia that morning, much less undergoing surgery. It seems as though her hearing is a bit more accute. She's never been a big fan of the vacuum cleaner, but yesterday, she scooted away in double time! It must have sounded a good deal louder to her now that the fluid that was making her hearing muffled was gone.

Dr. J. Mark Palmer of Cook Children's did a fantastic job. We had complete peace with placing our sweet angel in his care.

This is a fun picture of Ella just before they wheeled her away for surgery. She already had the "goofy juice" they give the babies to relieve the separation anxiety before they're taken away for surgery. Now, if only I could have convinced the nurse to give some of that to me!


Once the "goofy juice" really set in, she became very relaxed, humming to herself, and was a bit funny to watch. I took a video so that I could show Craig how she was acting, and I thought I'd share it with you. (Only one parent could go back to the pre-surgery area, so Craig let me go, and he waited in the waiting room.)


A big thank you to Aunt Amy and Brooke who were such troopers Friday morning. They were at our house before 6:30 so we could take off with Ella. Nolan had a great time playing with Brooke and Aunt Amy. Thank you for helping us out!