momsuz123 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 So my dd who is struggling, is on her third set of tubes. Just got these in last February. Problem with her is that she has had chronic ear infections forever (started at 10 weeks). Whenever she is sick, she says nothing. She does not even get fevers with her ear infections for little warnings for me. When she got her last set of tubes in, she woke up in recovery and exclaimed, "I can hear people talking!". My heart sank. She had missed most of her kindy year not hearing, or not hearing well. I finally feel like I am making some progress with her, however slowly. She is starting with a SLP in our house (yeah!) next week, I think. She is also meeting with a reading specialist this week (best friend's stepmom), to give us some guidance, etc. And now this. I have talked with her about how important it is to tell me if she isn't hearing well or in pain. She just looked blank. Even her new reading specialist said it is crucial we stay on top of her ears and get them checked more often (we were told to go every 4 months, now she wants it much sooner and more frequently). She said that dd is a child who has missed out on the hearing world for too long, only hearing muffled sounds, so she needs to make up that lost time. Don't know if you have any advice - maybe just a vent was needed. If you do have some, I am all ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzziesnowflake Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I would make an appointment with the ENT. I am glad to hear that they came out, my ds didn't because of this he had to have ear drum replacement surgery. (Needless to say we now have a new ENT who is the best in the state!) It is crucial that she can hear, my ds has problems with hearing and has had Speech Therapy. He has a difficult time hearing sounds and because of this his spelling is a train wreck. He is boarder line needing a hearing aide. Just take her back.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I would make an appointment with the ENT. I am glad to hear that they came out, my ds didn't because of this he had to have ear drum replacement surgery. (Needless to say we now have a new ENT who is the best in the state!) It is crucial that she can hear, my ds has problems with hearing and has had Speech Therapy. He has a difficult time hearing sounds and because of this his spelling is a train wreck. He is boarder line needing a hearing aide. Just take her back.:001_smile: Yep, she goes back next week Tuesday. We will see how that goes. Thanks for the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I just posted on one of your other threads, where I mentioned memory work. Since it seems you have other people working with your dd for some of her other issues, I'm going to suggest here that you play auditory memory games with her. Besides improving her memory, it might help you to catch it earlier if there are any changes in how she's hearing you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I just posted on one of your other threads, where I mentioned memory work. Since it seems you have other people working with your dd for some of her other issues, I'm going to suggest here that you play auditory memory games with her. Besides improving her memory, it might help you to catch it earlier if there are any changes in how she's hearing you. What do you mean by auditory memory games? Sorry if it is obvious (I am new to this). Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funnygirl Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Just fyi, a year is about average for the length of time a tube stays in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 What do you mean by auditory memory games? Sorry if it is obvious (I am new to this). Thanks. Basically I mean games and activities where the child needs to increasingly remember lists of things they heard. It can be something simple, like the children's game Simon Says, where the child needs to remember things to do based on what was said. Songs like Old McDonald, Going on a Bear Hunt, or any type of song where they repeat back words, rhythm or actions based on what was said can help develop this. There are many. A lot of children's games and songs work on this skill because most children benefit from working on it. When I researched this for my own son, I recognized many of the activities and songs from way back when I was a child. In the case of your daughter, you might try doing them and watching for changes for the worse as well as improvements in her memory. If she's no longer able to repeat back things at a level she was previously able to do, if she substitutes similar sounding words, or if she can only repeat back when she's looking at you, it could mean there was some change that you may need to bring to her audiologist's attention. (Plus, since you mentioned on the other thread that you suspected memory problems, that's a way to stay right on top of her hearing while also working on her memory.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnella Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I would make an appointment with the ENT. :iagree: Another reason to see a specialist is that the infections can move into the bone behind the ear. This is not common, but it's likely that younger pediatricians won't recognize the condition. I hate to bring up something new and scary, but this happened to my nephew. He was fortunate to have a different doctor see him on a sick visit. The doctor was older than his regular pediatrician and said it'd been a long time since he'd seen the problem. (Sorry I can't remember what it's called.) After a stay in the hospital and lots of IV antibiotics, my nephew came through with only a slight amount of permanent hearing loss. Many people (I'm not saying this applies to anyone on this board) take ear tubes as a minor, routine inconvenience that many kids have. So I feel the urge to point out that it's not always so simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Yah, for regular ear tubes 1 year is about their life span. After 2 sets we opted for "long term tubes" for my ds. He was born with a cleft palate, and the fluid in his ears wouldn't drain without tubes. The long term tubes had more risks, the worst of which is a permant hole in the ear drum. But the ENT said that kids who keep going back in for more surgeries to replace regular sets of tubes will have so much scar tissue and for Blake, a permant hole wouldn't have been a bad thing, it would have been like a natural ear tube. Anyway, he said that he could fix a permanent hole in his ear drum when he was older (if he had one). The long term tubes lasted like 6 years. After they fell out, the hole in his ear drum closed after about 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Basically I mean games and activities where the child needs to increasingly remember lists of things they heard. It can be something simple, like the children's game Simon Says, where the child needs to remember things to do based on what was said. Songs like Old McDonald, Going on a Bear Hunt, or any type of song where they repeat back words, rhythm or actions based on what was said can help develop this. There are many. A lot of children's games and songs work on this skill because most children benefit from working on it. When I researched this for my own son, I recognized many of the activities and songs from way back when I was a child. In the case of your daughter, you might try doing them and watching for changes for the worse as well as improvements in her memory. If she's no longer able to repeat back things at a level she was previously able to do, if she substitutes similar sounding words, or if she can only repeat back when she's looking at you, it could mean there was some change that you may need to bring to her audiologist's attention. (Plus, since you mentioned on the other thread that you suspected memory problems, that's a way to stay right on top of her hearing while also working on her memory.) Our audiologist recommended the electronic games Simon and Bop It. We bought one dd Bop It for Christmas even before we got the recommendation. It's been a huge hit around here. Even dh is playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Yes, I know tubes last about 1 year. Problem is, dd has NEVER had a cold that didn't become an ear infection when she doesn't have tubes. Then when she gets one, they don't put tubes in right away, because they assume she won't keep getting more. If the fluid is in the ear longer than 12 weeks, or if it is recurrent ear infections they will do tubes. Obviously, I hope she outgrows this someday. I just hate losing time. She lost 6 months in kindy with back to back ear infections, then it took awhile to get in with ENT. That is what I am frustrated and concerned about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 If you have been in with an ENT before, it should be much easier to get in faster now. As someone with life-long ear problems, please, please get her into the ENT and a good one. I have a permanent tube in my ear with multiple surgeries (that will continue for the rest of my life) and it all started with bad ear infections as a child. She probably has a small eustachian tube and will need to be monitored by an ENT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 If you have been in with an ENT before, it should be much easier to get in faster now. As someone with life-long ear problems, please, please get her into the ENT and a good one. I have a permanent tube in my ear with multiple surgeries (that will continue for the rest of my life) and it all started with bad ear infections as a child. She probably has a small eustachian tube and will need to be monitored by an ENT. OMG! You still have a tube?! I had no idea this could go on that long. Yes, I have her actually seeing the chief of staff at our children's hospital. They (even secretary) know us on a first name basis. They do as good a job as they can of getting us in when we need it, but they are busy - they are a big children's hospital. I have always stayed on top of this with dd. It is just frustrating, like I mentioned, that those darn tubes only last so long, especially when sometimes you dink around with ear infections and scheduling for 6 months. Good luck to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 OMG! You still have a tube?! I had no idea this could go on that long. Yes, I have her actually seeing the chief of staff at our children's hospital. They (even secretary) know us on a first name basis. They do as good a job as they can of getting us in when we need it, but they are busy - they are a big children's hospital. I have always stayed on top of this with dd. It is just frustrating, like I mentioned, that those darn tubes only last so long, especially when sometimes you dink around with ear infections and scheduling for 6 months. Good luck to you! Yeah, although at least when it goes on this long, they start to give you the tubes that last 10-15 years. But still, a good ENT can hopefully prevent what happened to me from happening to your dd :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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