A diagnosis...

Just after Katelyn turned 4, she got her first ear infection. And then with every consequent cold virus, came another ear infection. So many in fact that I've lost count. She's had 8 within the last year alone. How do you treat ear infections? Antibiotics. And Katelyn has been prescribed at least 6 different antibiotics in the last year to combat all the ear infections she's endured. Aside from severe ear pain, which is heartbreaking for any parent to witness, Katelyn's also had much difficulty with her hearing. When she failed her first hearing test, I was heart-broken. Even though I knew her hearing loss was temporary, it didn't matter-my little girl could not hear.

In November, Katelyn awoke at 9 pm one night screaming with pain. We took her to the Children's Hospital urgent care(north campus) & upon examining her, they prescribed an antibiotic for an ear infection. 2 weeks later when we followed up with our pediatrician, he said her ear infection was not gone & prescribed another antibiotic rarely used anymore, but it did the trick. At that time I told her doctor I wanted to see an ENT & he said he didn't think we were there yet. He also told me that we could put Katelyn on antibiotics indefinitely. My mommy radar went off like crazy!! Are you kidding me?? So we put her on all these antibiotics & when she gets pneumonia or worse & needs antibiotics, her body will have built up such a resistance to antibiotics that they won't work. I DON'T THINK SO!! I realize I didn't go to med school; but sometimes, when you're a parent, you just gotta go with your gut!!

In January, when Katelyn got yet another ear infection, we saw a different pediatrician in the practice & he agreed with me that we should see an ENT. So upon conferring with trusted friends, we decided to see Dr. Steubel at Children's Hospital. It was very important to me that Katelyn see a pediatric ENT. During the consultation at Children's, Katelyn met with an audioligist. Even though she didn't have an active ear infection at the time, there was so much fluid built up in her ears, that she barely passed a hearing exam. I will never forget sitting in the sound-proof exam room with Katelyn. Katelyn had on ear muffs & every time she heard a noise she was supposed to raise her hand. Well, she couldn't hear the sounds; so in frustration she kept turning around to me and saying, "Mommy, you need to tell her to turn it up, I can't hear!" Man, was it hard to fight back tears.

After Katelyn's hearing exam, she met with Dr. Steubel. He's a very nice man, if not a bit stoic. He has a German accent, I think, could be Norwegian. But, right away, I felt comfortable with him & so did Katelyn. His diagnosis sure surprised me, though!! Not only did Katelyn need tubes placed in her ears, but she also needed her tonsils & adenoids removed. WHAT??? I was not prepared to hear this at all! He said her tonsils were so over-enlarged that they were touching. He also said that due to her snoring & open-mouth breathing, he was certain she had some degree of sleep apnea; although he didn't want to put her through the extensive testing to confirm it. Dr. Steubel wanted to schedule Katelyn for surgery & he wanted to perform all the procedures at the same time. Whew, that was a lot to take in. No parent wants to put their child under anesthesia, so we agreed it would be best to do all the procedures at the same time. Surgery was scheduled for March 9, 2010.