Tough Guys Come In Small Packages

Well, we officially made it through Ty's third surgery in a year and a half! On the menu today were his third set of ear tubes, an adenoidectomy, an ABR (auditory brainstem response) hearing test, and his annual bloodwork. Quite a production!

I noticed a few months ago that Ty's speech was starting to slow down, and he was pulling at his ear frequently following an ear infection. Even though his tubes were only 3-4 months old, I had a feeling they were blocked and not functioning. Sure enough, after a visit to his pediatrician and ENT, it was confirmed that his right tube was in fact blocked (neither doctor believed me at first either, because the ear drum looked good from the outside...don't mess with a Momma's intuition!). During surgery today, not only was his right tube blocked, but it was falling out, holding a mess of thick, infected fluid behind the eardrum. To our surprise also, the eardrum in the left ear was starting to grow over the tube, so it was most definitely time to replace that as well. We're SO glad we caught this early when we did!

The adenoidectomy was up in the air entering surgery today. His ENT is conservative with surgeries (which I greatly respect), and only wanted to remove the adenoids if absolutely necessary. After viewing their large size however, he did decide to remove them to promote better eustachian tube drainage, and hopefully avoid further surgeries.

Lastly, I requested an ABR hearing test to be done today, as it can only be done under sedation. To this day Ty has never had a "normal" hearing test result, due to all his ear fluid, and the inaccuracy of behavioral hearing tests. We were warned that ABR results are typically low immediately following surgery, so not to put a lot of hope into getting a good result. But like always, Ty surprised us all, and scored in the *normal* hearing range, despite all the swelling from surgery. The audiologist assured us that hearing is something we can cross off our list to worry about. Talk about amazing news!!!

Recovery was long. We've learned that our guy takes a little longer to snap out of anesthesia than most kids, but that's okay. Today's cocktail also included a couple of doses of morphine, which really took him to another planet for a few hours! By the time we reached the lobby though, he was asking to eat graham crackers, so we knew he was feeling a little better! Now at home he's walking around, eating all the graham crackers and apple juice he wants, and playing. Hopefully we're out of the woods!

Thank you to everyone for keeping Ty in your thoughts!

(no pictures today...if you'd like a mental image, he's in his football jammies, has some serious bedhead, has purple marker on both earlobes, and dried blood under his nose...a true hot mess! :)

22 Months and Counting...

Seriously, didn't I just post his 21 month update recently?!  This boy is growing up much faster than I can keep up with! 

I made him wear the birthday crown this morning...he wasn't too thrilled, but he was so darn cute!!!

So Ty-guy is 22 months today.  He is teetering on the cusp of walking...more so than ever before.  He flies around the house pushing his push toy, and can navigate even the tightest of corners.  He's steady, balanced, and stable.  Just the other night, he was standing in the middle of the room, and Eric held a ball out to him.  Ty walked toward the ball as Eric moved backward, even taking zig-zag turns to follow him.  It was the farthest he had ever walked independently, and he didn't even realize he was doing it (as soon as he saw the couch, he lunged to it to hold on!)  We've also caught him literally holding his shopping cart off of the ground as he walked with it, so clearly it's not a huge support for him!  It's only a matter of Ty gaining confidence and realizing that he can do it without that darn handle!  That could mean two days until the lightbulbs go off, or two months...I can never tell when Ty's about to make a breakthrough!  It's an exciting time though, and it's so much fun (and so very exhausting) watching him explore the cabinets, drawers, and tabletops that he could never reach before!

Walking in his "grandpa pants"...those short legs make those pant legs too long for walking...it's the only logical solution! :-)

New interests this month include ipad apps, which he uses with ease!  His favorite is called "Paint Sparkles", and is as much fun for grown-ups as it is for kids!  As he draws on the screen, the lines light up like fireworks, and play music.  Since when has drawing been so much fun?!  He's also really taken to an app called "Little Reader" by Brillkids.  It's an early reading program that is essentially electronic flashcards that go across the screen, along with animated pictures and videos of the words that are being shown.  I've done the same flashcard program with Ty on paper, but this is just SO much more engaging!  It's a great app...and free!!!

In two weeks, Ty will have his third (yes, three before the age of two, yikes!) surgery to replace his ear tubes.  In addition, his ENT will most likely be taking out his oversized adenoids to help promote eustacian tube drainage, since they are not doing a great job on their own.  Lastly, he will be having an in-depth hearing test called an ABR (auditory brain response), which I requested, since his behavioral hearing test results have always been wishy-washy (I mean really...given a choice, a one year old is going to play with the toy in front of him, instead of turn his head to locate the whisper off to his right...it's just not a totally accurate test!).  I honestly think his hearing is normal (or close to it) when he does not have middle ear fluid, but this test will give positive in-depth results one way or another.  With all of those procedures, I'm anticipating a 1.5 - 2 hour surgery time, which I'm slightly nervous about, since all of the others lasted no more than 20 minutes.  I know he's in great hands though, and hopefully he will be much more comfortable without all of that ear pressure all day long!

Well, that about sums up our big 22 month boy!  A few pictures to leave you with...