ENT Appointment

A few months ago, after Kinley had her 4th confirmed ear infection in about 3 months time, Dr. Flanagan suggested we schedule an appointment with an ENT.  In addition to those 4 infections, she also had fluid in her ears at her 9 month checkup.  It wasn't an infection at that time, but we were given a prescription just in case.  We were pretty sure it turned into an infection within a week or so, because she was running a fever and digging in her ears.        

John and I discussed what we felt was important in looking for a doctor.  We both felt that, because Kinley is so young, it was important to have a pediatric ENT.  The ones covered by our insurance were through Texas Children's Hospital.  Obviously, they're the best in the area, but that also means a lengthy wait.  When I called to schedule the appointment, it was almost 2 months before they had an opening.

I took a half day at work today, and John scheduled this as one of his days off, so that we could both go.  Luckily, they have some satellite offices, and one of them is in The Woodlands, so we didn't have to drive all the way down to the Medical Center.  The ENT, Dr. Gianonni, was super nice.  Since our pediatrician is also through Texas Children's, she had all of Kinley's records right there, so she could look it up, without me having to remember all the specific details. 

Of course, Kinley's ears looked just fine.  She said with her history, though, she would do the surgery if we decided to.  I was hoping for more of a "push" in one way or the other.  I'm afraid that as her mom, my decision might be more emotion-driven.  Dr. Gianonni said she was going to put the paperwork through, and if we decided to do the tubes, all we had to do was call and schedule the appointment.

John and I had a lengthy discussion after we got home.  It's hard to want to have a surgery performed on your child when they are perfectly healthy.  However, some of the nights when we were up with ear infections were awful, and I felt so terrible that I couldn't "fix it."  We both decided we thought it would be best to give it another month and see what happens.  We're going to wait until the end of May.  If she has another ear infection in that time, we will go ahead and schedule the surgery.  After that point, we will reevaluate what we want to do.  There is a good chance she could just grow out of it on her own.