Re: Ruptured Eardrum

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody!

Sorry, I am lost and behind on e-mails. Getting ready for my first garage

sale ever, and Em's sick. She had a cold for a couple weeks then all of a sudden

in the wee hours of Sunday morning, she was crying with ear pain. Advil didn't

kick it, it was a lonnnng hour!

Sunday morning she wasn't complaining of pain but gee whiz, no wonder,

" Mommy, my ear is wet " . Remember when I was asking how you could tell if an

eardrum

perforated or not? Well, I don't know if they are ALL like this but MAN it's a

lot of glop!! Blood and yellow fluid all day and night but at least it

doesn't smell bad like I assumed. It's still coming out now on Tuesday, I guess

I'll

call tomorrow if it continues? What's standard for number of days of drainage?

She's on Augmentin because there's a tendency for a complicating gram

negative bacterial skin infection with eardrum ruptures, and Omnicef doesn't

cover

that. I was a little bummed about that because we've always " saved " Augmentin as

our backup, go-to drug, and this is the third time she's been on it this

year. Two pneumonias and this.

DH is so funny!!! Just a couple days before this he made the comment that

" she hasn't been that much sicker than other kids " recently. Huh?? We had to

drop

out of a class to give her time to heal, she'd been sick too much. She's been

better since preschool ended but that's a no-brainer! Two probable pneumonias

(they were not confirmed with x-ray) within a month before the end of

preschool, etc. So then her eardrum ruptures and he says, " We should go back to

the

immunologist -- she's just been sick too much. Two pneumonias and a ruptured

eardrum? This is ridiculous. " WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA????????????????!!!!!!!! Isn't

that a scream?! One second she has no problems and the next he's running to

immunology? I don't get it. Denial I guess, I don't know why I even asked. We've

had this discussion here before, how the menfolk insist on cruising the River

DeNile unless they absolutely get smacked in the face with the boat.

They're sort of cute, aren't they?

At least the ped gave us samples of Augmentin and the ear abx drops. Saved us

$40 in co-pays!! Whew!

Kate's in full toddler mode, was screaming at the top of her lungs at the

library today because I was holding her (facing out to avoid the kicking legs!)

to prevent her from running off full speed a third time during checkout. Hah!

Missy, if you think you can bother me simply by screaming, you underestimate

me!! Doesn't embarrass me a bit, I've been down THIS road before!! hee hee

hee!!! (next time we're bringing the stroller!)

Oh, my little baby is using the potty about once a day now. Sniff sniff!!

First we got her the toddler bed and now the potty... of course I'm proud she's

flirting with training this early, I mean, had no interest whatsoever

until she was nearing age four and she's still struggling with Pullups at night.

Have to play that one carefully to avoid hurt feelings. But the other part of

me is asking where that tiny little infant went?? Sigh!

(mom to Kate, born 9/19/02, dairy intolerant; and , age 5, GERD,

dairy intolerant -- currently has polysaccharide antibody def, previously had

transient IgG, IgA, t-cell & other defs)

[Guest guest]

Sandi:

Oh, you're right and thanks!! She DID have Zithromax for her first issue this

year, which was ear infection and possible pneumonia. Didn't check the

pneumonia out because she already needed the abx for the ear and Z covered both.

Thanks for reminding me, so it's only been 2 uses of our ringer, Augmentin.

So how long is this thing supposed to drain?

Thanks again!

(mom to Kate, born 9/19/02, dairy intolerant; and , age 5, GERD,

dairy intolerant -- currently has polysaccharide antibody def, previously had

transient IgG, IgA, t-cell & other defs)

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandi:

Thanks for your replies, it's so helpful just to have someone lend an ear, ya

know? (oops, no pun intended) And I think now that you mention it, the

control-issue idea is a good one. I'll try to keep that in mind and tailor my

responses accordingly. Funny thing is, I'm sort of a control freak myself!

The update is that her ear is perfect and the tympanogram was normal -- she's

100%! I think that if you have a rupture the junk has a place to drain and

many times heals easier than if it's just stuck in there festering.

We've finally asked for a referral back to immunology. The doc we didn't like

there has retired, it will be nice to get a fresh perspective from someone

else seeing as Kindergarten is looming. Mommy's instinct strongly says

Kindergarten is going to be a series of illnesses with no break, it would be

nice to

have an immuno on board to monitor the situation. The eardrum bursting was sort

of the final call to action for us on that.

So that's sort of good, though I picture them re-doing ALL the tests for the

initial consultation (she hasn't been there in 2-1/2 years), which I feel

would be a waste of time and blood, I'm pretty confident the *only* deficit she

has is the pneumo antibodies.

Certainly I'll bring all our test results from the Ped and I conferring and

testing each year -- maybe that will help. I am embarrassed to admit I have not

been keeping track of illnesses. I have the ones where she required abx and

such, but not other stuff. I do have a listing of preschool absences from

roughly October through March, I guess I'll see if it seems to be helpful info.

Well, tomorrow's my birthday, so I'm online to look at my Amazon.com wishlist

and go SHOPPING!! Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!! Finances being what they are, I don't get

that opportunity much anymore.

(mom to Kate, born 9/19/02, dairy intolerant; and , age 5, GERD,

dairy intolerant -- currently has polysaccharide antibody def, previously had

transient IgG, IgA, t-cell & other defs)

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandi:

I'll be praying for an easy surgery with the ear tubes. Could the vomiting be

from anesthesia? I remember vomiting after my ear tube surgery -- I was 5-1/2

but remember it because I barfed in my lap in the car leaving the hospital,

but right on my " peelow " , which is my pillow, my woobie, my lovey, which I

still have today at age 37!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To answer your questions, by pneumo abs I mean pneumococcal abs, but to

Prevnar, they've never bothered with pneumovax since she doesn't even respond to

Prevnar. She'll make a blip here and there to one strain or another (once in

awhile as much as a 1-1/2x increase but it doesn't hold), some will even seem to

go *down* after vaccination and then within a year they all plummet anyway.

But we still do it every year because we figure at least some abs to some

strains for a short time might help.

does not have tubes, this rupture was her first serious ear infection

in awhile. She changed over to sinus infections at about two or three years

old, more sinus and fewer ear infections. She had one, well, was heading toward

one in January, copious fluid behind the eardrums but pneumonia was suspected

to be starting so they covered her for both before either or both took off.

She had ear tubes from age nine months to about two years old or so, though

only one tube -- the first one came out with an infection shortly after surgery

and they never put it back in, the ear with the tube in it never got infected

once during that time.

My ENT said definitely gets her ears from me, mine are still a mess! Oh

well, could be worse, that's for sure.

The thing about her is it's not all sinus or ears or whatever, it's a little

of everything. When she gets a cold it knocks her flat whereas her little

sister just gets the sniffles. Then so many colds lead to secondary bacterial

infections, but not every one so you can predict it. She gets a gastro viruse or

two each year, though they are less severe with each subsequent infection. She

gets croup and pneumonia and sinus and ears, it's just a mixture. But not so

blatantly awful that she's a lock for treatment. However, since starting

preschool she's gotten more severe infections -- two pneumonias and the eardrum.

But her lifestyle has always been affected by it, to the point I think it's

enough already. I didn't realize the extent so much until her little sister

came along. When I see a baby being less sick than her each time they have the

" same " thing, it really highlights the problem, ya know? I mean, the last time

we were at Chuck E. Cheese (it will be the last time for a while, let me tell

ya!), DH, Kate and I got the sniffles, very minor. was flat on her back

so sick she had to be carried to the docs and they did CBC, blood culture, the

works. Determined it was viral, so had to just watch and wait. Then the cold

she caught after that is the one that paved the way for the secondary and

ruptured eardrum.

Anyway, I'm rambling. The school is cleaning off all the desks and surfaces

in the classroom every morning for Kindergarten, and I managed to wiggle Purell

use into her 504 though one of the teachers (not 's, thank goodness!)

was resisting that. Also in her plan is that she can go wash her hands any time

(there's a bathroom in the classroom), though I'm thinking touching everything

in the bathroom will be worse than not washing! Oh well, we'll do our best.

(mom to Kate, born 9/19/02, dairy intolerant; and , age 5, GERD,

dairy intolerant -- currently has polysaccharide antibody def, previously had

transient IgG, IgA, t-cell & other defs)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/21/04 8:53:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

bunneegirl@... writes:

though I'm thinking touching everything

in the bathroom will be worse than not washing!

,

A lot of the classrooms have sinks in the room--would that be better?? Bri

did great today. Yes, his vomiting is from the anesthesia, but this is a new

thing. Today, they got it under control quickly. Plus, he can hear out of

his ear again!!!

Sandi, Mom to , age 11. Immune deficiency, Tetrology of Fallot,

Pulmonary valve transplant, Mitral valve stenosis, severe allergies, chronic

ear, nose

and throat infections, asthma and Carnitine deficiency. Suspected Di

Syndrome.