Ear Update

Madelyn was pretty clingy last weekend and especially on Monday morning.  If Ryan or I even made the motion to put her down, she would scream.  That should have been my clue but instead I assumed she was going through the phase of "just being 1".  She has been crying a lot more when I drop her off at daycare but again, thought it was more of the separation anxiety.

We took her to daycare on Monday but I got a call towards the end of the day saying that Madelyn had a temp.  I had been talking to her surgeon's nurse earlier in the day as she woke up with drainage coming from her right ear.  The drainage was a 'good' thing meaning the tubes were doing their job.  The surgeon prescribed drops but said to follow up with her primary doctor regarding the fever.  If I hadn't been talking to her surgeon's nurse I don't think I would have taken her to the doctor.  I would have assumed that the fever would take care of itself.

Thankfully we went to her doctor because one of her ears was infected and the other tube was plugged.  They said she has a lot of fluid so the tube that wasn't plugged was doing its job, it's just hard to keep up with all the fluid.

We had a follow up with her surgeon yesterday.  Both her ears were clear!  At least we know when she gets infections she recovers quickly.  We have another follow up with her surgeon in 3 weeks to recheck her ears and to retest her hearing.  He didn't want to recheck the hearing since she was still on drops & antibiotics.  It could skew the results.

We are happy that she responded to the meds.  Within a day of being on the drops & antibiotics she was back to her normal self.  I didn't even think of ear pain/issues when she was so clingy & crabby......since she just got her tubes.  At least we know the signs to look for.  I was pretty good at diagnosing ear infections before her tubes - now it's just different signs to look for.

I know many doctors say that teething & ear infections are not related but I would have to disagree.  Every time Madelyn has gotten a tooth, she has gotten an ear infection.  Too coincidental.  She is getting her 1 year molars right now - she has 2 of them so crossing our fingers we can skip an ear infection when the last 2 come in!  Other than her ear infections, Madelyn has been a happy & healthy girl!