Hudson's ears

Hudson has battled his ears for quite some time now. He had 3 ear infections before he turned 1 and has had 2 since then. The problem is he has had continuous fluid in them. On September 18th he got really really sick (after a whooping cough vaccine..thats a whole nother post). He had a 103.5 fever for two days and a horrible cold to go along with it. Before he got so sick he was saying around 15-20 words and once he got sick his speech stopped. He still jabbered all day long, but was no longer using words. After about a week he was back to his normal self except for the speech. We went in for his 18 month well baby the beginning of October and they had no explanations for me as to why his speech had stopped. However they did say he had another ear infection and had probably had it since he had been so sick. I laid in bed awake that night for hours trying to figure out what was going on because I knew it was all correlated somehow. All of a sudden it clicked. He had fluid in his ears at his 12 month, 15 month, and an ear infection at his 18 month. HE COULDN'T HEAR! At that point I was furious and devastated all at the same time. I was so mad that our pediatrician was too clueless to figure out the problem and that it took me as long as it did. I know I can't beat myself up about it but it's hard not to. I called the ped the next morning and ask the nurse if I could be right? Previously they told me they weren't concerned with his speech until he was two. Thats a long time to wait if something is going on!!!! Anyway she said I might be on to something and if I wanted to I could bring him back after he finished his antibiotics the next week. We set up the appointment. Sure enough he still had fluid in his ears. I made an appointment with the ENT for December 1st. We went to see the ENT and he said his ear drum was grey. That usually is a sign of chronic ear infections but can also be caused from chronic fluid. Because of his speech and the fact that the fluid won't go away he highly recommended tubes. Deep down I knew this was going to be the prognosis but was still bummed to hear it! No mom wants her 20 month old to have to be put to sleep for any reason regardless of how short the procedure is. We took a few days and after talking to my parents, and lots of prayers we decided it was in his best interest to have to tubes put in.

The very hardest thing about being a parent is making life changing decisions for them. If it was me I would have had to tubes put in that same day. However when you think about how he will have to live the decision I make for him it makes it soooooooo much harder. Thankfully I completely and whole heartedly trust our ENT. It's still hard to trust "part of me" with him! Being a parent is tough!! Hudson's surgery is set for this Monday morning at 7:30a.m. It should only take 10 minutes and about 30 recovery. However prayers would still be GREATLY appreciated! Pray for Bryan and I's strength during the procedure, Hudson to handle the whole thing well, the surgery to go flawlessly, and that it fixes all his problems and he feels better immediately!! Thanks for you love and support! I will post later with an update on how he is doing!