The Parkers

Just two things to add to the blog today:

1. Ben's hosting a  guessing contest on his blog! Read more about that at the end of this post.

2. Update on Linc-o:  He had tubes put in last Monday! 

Talking to the ENT more about this at our consultation put my mind at ease with the procedure and I really was so excited to see the results and know for sure that the fluid isn't there, lurking behind those tiny eardrums anymore. 

Lincoln did great - better than I thought he would given he had to fast from bedtime the night before. I think he finally got into surgery at about 10:30 am.  Ben and I had to sneak breakfast and snacks without him seeing us or surely a total melt down would have been in cue.

After he came out of the OR, Dr. Muntz filled us in with all the details and said the fluid looked somewhat like rubber cement and that it wouldn't have cleared out on its own. That was oddly comforting information, confirming that we had made a good choice.

 I know this is most likely the same fluid that was there on Feb 24th when his ears were checked last... the question we'll never know the answer to is just how long that fluid has been there. I'm not sure that it matters, but I am curious.  We know there was fluid in his ears mid-August last year. And an infection there at the end of September, and  in October and finally cleared up beginning of November (assuming that was all the same infection... maybe all the same fluid? Not sure.)  The ENT thought there were enough red flags to warrant putting tubes in and in the end it was completely our decision.

Dr. Muntz is the ENT we've been seeing and has been wonderful to work with (thanks for the referral Dave!). He was so personable and very matter of fact and worked so well with Lincoln. We felt no rush at all and felt like we had plenty of time with the Dr. to get all our questions answered. If you're in the market for an ENT I highly recommend Harlan Muntz.

 

Playing with electric trains waiting for intake.

Waiting for the anesthesiologist to come take him back to the OR. This was the longest part of the wait, but lucky for us Primary Children's has no shortage of fun toys around.

 

Post op, just waiting for him to fully wake up and keep down his fluids.

 

Easy peasy. The procedure took about 10 minutes, but from the time we left to the time we got back was about 5 hours. Nevertheless, we're so glad the tubes are in!

 And just an update... since his ears have been drained, we've seen him respond to a few environmental noises that I'm pretty sure he hasn't been hearing this whole time (like loud trucks driving by on the road, etc).  

Ok, now back to Ben's guessing contest. According to his post it has already ended... but he hasn't posted the winner... so hurry and enter! :)

Fly tying is one thing he keeps himself busy with throughout the winter so he's all stocked for the summer months. He showed me his box tonight, full of flies and I couldn't believe how full it was!  I took a guess at how many there were and that piqued his curiosity,  so he counted and thought he'd turn it into a contest for everyone else.

So go take a stab at it and whoever comes closest wins a dozen flies! I know... some of you wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do with 12 flies... but they make a good gift for a fly fisherman... if you know one. :)  Anyway, mosey on over to his blog and make a guess. You might just be surprised at how quickly those nimble little fingers of his have been moving.