You Put What...Where?

It's been 6 months since Collin had his tubes put in and things have been going very well. He's only had one ear infection and a now has a sinus infection that hasn't gone away yet. It was time to check in with the doctor to make sure the tubes were working properly and his hearing is OK. His hearing is perfect! A hearing test for a 2 year old involves sitting in a soundproof booth while the audiologist makes certain sounds and watches his reaction. Sometimes its a low pitched sound, sometimes its bears that light up and bang a drum. It's all a game to Collin and he has a great time with it. He's even starting to try to predict which direction the sound will come from next. After we got the A-OK on his hearing it was time for the doctor to check his tubes. It went something like this:

Dr.: Hi Guys, how are you doing today?
Me: Hi Dr. Mike. We're doing great.
Dr.: Can I look in your ears?
Me: Sure

Collin is very good for this and sits quietly while Dr. Mike looks at his first ear.

Dr.: Hmm...That's the oddest looking wax I've ever seen. It looks like jello! Let me look at his other ear and then I want to look at this under the microscope. Has he had jello lately?
Me: No, not unless he had it at daycare.

He looks in the other ear, same deal. So now we're off to the room with the microscope in it. Dr. Mike looks at the first ear again and decides whatever it is, it needs to come out. I put Collin in my lap because I figure he's not going to like it very much. Yeah, that's the understatement of the year. He completely freaked the minute the suction machine was turned out. I was holding him in my lap with my legs wrapped around his and my arms wrapped around his torso to hold his arms while the medical assistant held his head still so the doctor could try to suck the stuff out of his ear. It took a bit but it finally came out.

Dr.: What is that?
Me: It kind of looks like a piece of gummy bear! He loves those.
Dr.: Let's take a look at the other ear.

More stuff, maybe gummy bear? We try for a few minutes to hold Collin down while Dr. Mike tries to suck whatever it is out of Collin's ear.

Dr.: We can keep trying or you can keep his ears dry and come back.
Tim and I: Keep trying, please!

No way are we going through this another time, we want it done and over with. Tim offers to switch places with me and eventually we have to. Collin is just beside himself and scared to death. It doesn't hurt at all but the machine makes a loud noise. It doesn't come out with the suction on the other side so Dr. Mike turns off the machine and gets a tool used for cleaning out ear wax. Collin is still freaked out but calms down a good bit once the noise is gone. The other piece comes out in no time.

Dr.: This is a first for me. I've seen lots of stuff in ears but nothing like this. In fact, I bet your pediatrician would have told you it was wax because it really does look like it.

Tim told me later that he actually felt the object that came out and it felt like the gel cling decorations we have on our windows. We had some for Halloween and Thanksgiving that had orange and yellow pieces. Collin was notorious for pulling them apart.

I actually do think that the pediatrician missed it because we were just in there 2 weeks ago when Collin got his sinus infection and they looked at his ears and didn't say anything. He's been tugging at them but not really complaining so we didn't think a whole lot of it for a number of reasons. 1. He was at the doctor and they said his ears were fine, he had a sinus infection. 2. He's been pulling at everyone's ears, not just his own. 3. Nick's ears are quite prominent and we thought he'd just taken an interest in ears because of it.

Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed because I was just taking him for a follow up visit and I never even suspected that he had put anything in his ears. Plus, I can't even begin to tell you how often we make fun of parents who bring their kids in for surgery because they've gotten something stuck up their nose or in their ears. Usually they end up in the OR because the kid is so crazy in the office that the doctor can't get near them. I totally understand it now and I will be much more sympathetic and much less judgemental. Collin was ridiculously strong and wiggly and he screamed "Don't touch me!" and "Leave me alone!" at the top of his lungs through the entire procedure. I wouldn't have been surprised if Mike had said, I'm not going to do this, lets add him on to the schedule and take it out under anesthesia. He was that wild. Fortunately, he got the stuff out of both ears and about 20 seconds later Collin was completely fine and ready for the Popsicle we promised him if he was good. He even said thank you to Dr. Mike and gave him a high five. When he got home, he told Grandmom and Granddad that he cried and Dr. Mike looked at his ears and their was a gummy bear in them and then he got a Popsicle. Pretty good summation of the events, actually.

In other Collin news, he pooped in the potty tonight! I very proud of him. Maybe potty training will start picking up speed again.