Another Monday Down

Last night went smoothly in the sleep department, if you don't count the fact that Chase was in bed awake until about 11... with me awake beside him. I have never seen a child that can fight sleep like he can. My mother claims that I fought sleep too when I was his age, but I'm not sure if I believe her because I love to sleep now and can't imagine not loving it as a child. I actually blame the sleep-fighting gene that Chase inherited on his father because Jeff will fight sleep tooth and nail, much like his son. Anyhow, the point was that after a very weary afternoon Chase's ear has not seemed to really bother him. It has been draining nonstop but he has not mentioned it hurting and even told me it didn't when I asked him if it did. It really made me wonder if his eardrum had ruptured because I've heard that a rupturing eardrum is very painful until it actually ruptures, then you feel a sense of relief.

I did call the ENT at 8:30 this morning and as luck would have it the one we had been seeing was out today (deja vu anyone?). So, I called our regular ENT and they said he definitely needed to be seen today and could I be there at 2:15. Absolutely, I'll just let my kids teach themselves for the afternoon, I mean they are almost all 7 by now. Fortunately I have an awesome aide, a super principal, and a fantastic team teacher that pulled together and I was able to make the appointment. I owe them... big.

Jeff picked up Chase and I met them there. I noticed Chase's ear was not draining and Jeff said he had wiped it off when they arrived, but that it had been draining. Dr. N came it and said that the left ear (our problem ear) is looking good, although that pesky little scab is still there making it impossible to see the tube. He doesn't seem to think the tube has turned after all so that was a plus for us! As for his right ear, he couldn't say for sure what is going on, but he does have a theory. He thinks that the tube had gotten clogged which caused pressure to build up, hence the enormous amount of pain that Chase had yesterday. Eventually the clog got so much pressure behind it that is basically blew through, i.e. the draining. Good news is the tube is doing exactly what it is meant to do. We are going to do one more round of antibiotics in the evenings and then go in for a recheck in one week. See, I knew we weren't done with these antibiotics yet! All in all it was a good appointment and I have a feeling maybe we are on the downhill slide... or at least I hope we are!