After two successful hearing tests at the audiologist we made an appointment with a highly recommended ENT in the area to check on the fluid in Johnny's ears. The appointment is through the Texas Children's satellite near us which I love. We are there with some frequency and are very appreciative of their friendly staff and the ease to get to the office. When we were called back, they weighed Johnny in at 14 pounds 7 ounces (that could explain why he is rapidly filling out his 3 month onesies) and asked a few screening questions (why we were there, any hospitalizations, if he used a pacifier, and any other concerns). We waited about 5 minutes for the doctor to come back to see us. He explained briefly that one of the manifestations of T21 are found in the skull structure that leads to smaller ear canals making it harder for fluid to drain out of the ears. He looked briefly in each ear, in his nose, and his throat (E...N...T...) and then called for backup from a nurse. Apparently Johnny's smaller ear canals are exceptionally small and he needed to look into them through a microscope. I held Johnny's head, one nurse held his body, and another held his legs. Poor little guy tried so hard to be brave but started to get sadder and sadder as he was restrained and he felt the doctor looking into his ear. It was hard to see his big eyes looking up at me and him trying to fight back his sad face, but he eventually let it go and started crying.
The ENT said that there was definitely fluid behind Johnny's left ear, but because of how small his ear canal is, there is no point in trying tube surgery yet. So we are under strict doctor's orders to grow! He also has us watching Johnny for snoring and difficulty breathing because the adenoids and tonsils can be problematic and cause some sorts of Sleep apnea. So we go for a follow up in a few months to check on if Johnny is ready for surgery at that point.
I am kind of glad for the wait and see this time around because he will do better recovering from surgery and being put under the bigger he is. Also, we have a follow up with cardiology next month and while there is no reason to suspect that he may need heart surgery, it will be nice to double check that there are no new developments so the two surgeries can be done at the same time. We are slowly building up our own private recommendation of all sorts of doctors!
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