Mixed Nuts: ENT visit today

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Friday, August 31, 2007

ENT visit today

Today I took Cainan to the ear nose and throat (ENT) doctor to check for tubes in his ears. We met a very nice physician and she definitely thinks Cainan will need tubes. He will probably have them for most of his child hood. She wants to do a hearing test, but because he is so young, and doesn't understand much English yet, he needs to have a "play" hearing test where they will determine how well he hears while he plays. Don't know how this works, but hopefully we will have this appointment early next week. I am waiting (of course) from a call back from this clinic to set up this appointment. Sigh.
Anyway, we talked about the tubes. He will have to go under general anethesia, but it is an outpatient procedure and a short surgery. I hope to have it done before the lip surgery or shortly after. I think the ENT would like to do it before, but we can't do much until he sees the cardiologist next week and gets cleared to have any kind of surgery by him. She is going to put waterproof tubes in, but is trying to decide because he will have long term issues if she wants to put tougher, more permanent tubes in, or tubes that will have to be replaced every 6-12 months. The downside to the tougher tubes is that sometimes they can leave a lot of scarring in the ear. But after the hearing test, I think that will help her decide. If she puts the bigger tubes in, we might have to keep his ears plugged during baths and swimming, which may be difficult since he is little and won't understand to leave the plugs alone.
We were also told that he will have some ear drainage that will be noticeable until his palate is repaired. Since fluid will be going from his nose directly into his ears until the palate is closed, the ears may drain. She said not a lot, but she just wanted us to be aware that this was normal when we saw it.
Okay - so I called and got his play audio appointment set up. He will have that next Thursday September 6th at 9am! Yeah. I was told it will take about 1 hour. I was going to keep the girls home from school that day, but I guess they are going now! :)
So a good appointment overall. We are piling up the doctors, and I am going to have to get a notebook to keep them all straight!
Enjoy some pictures from last night:

Arlington turned Cainan into a princess

Cainan goes into the playroom for the first time. Before this he didn't really want to go in there. There are about 1000 toys, so I am sure he was overwhelmed. But he liked it finally!