April 16, 2018

Waxing PoENTic


A couple of weeks ago, I inadvertently was reminded of outstanding parental fears.  In reality, I suppose it was more falling subject to current parental fears while being reminded of carry overs from early parenthood.

Several months ago (6-7 maybe?) Killian mentioned that he was having difficulty hearing out of his right ear.  He said the sounds were muffled.  Due to my own childhood, teen and early adult experience, I presumed that it was likely wax build up and tried using some wax softener (Debrox) and a water flushing kit from the drug store.  It proved to be ineffective so within the next day or two I took him to the pediatrician to get it checked out.  The pediatrician noticed a little fluid behind the eardrum and said that it was likely due to some sinus congestion type symptoms Killian was otherwise experiencing and said it would likely dissipate with that.

Fast forward a few months and Killian says that he's having similar troubles with his left ear and that it sounds like things are underwater.  This time, he involuntarily demonstrates the impedance by way of not responding when I'm talking to him and he can't see me.  Cue concerned dad mode.  I again get him to the pediatrician to have it checked out the next day after trying another ineffective round of Debrox only to have the pediatrician repeat the same diagnosis.  Killian explained that the right hear was still troublesome as well (news to me) so the pediatrician referred us to an ENT specialist.

This was the Thursday before Good Friday and, consequently, Easter weekend so the earliest available appointment was the following Tuesday.  As now more concerned dad, I called all ENT specialists in the surrounding cities as I wanted to drive from that pediatrician appointment straight to the ENT now that I know there is enough concern for the referral.  Cue weekend of quiet panic.

At this point, I'm internally processing all possible causes and diagnoses as well as blaming myself for any potential bad parenting which could lead to hearing loss.  The pediatrician tested him to be at about a 40 decibel reduction in both ears.  It was restless sleep for me for several nights even though Killian seemed otherwise unimpeded.  No obvious or stated physical discomfort other than the hearing loss.

The day before the ENT appointment, Killian conjured up flu symptoms (mild fever, significant fatigue, decreased appetite, runny nose, sneezing, cough, etc.).  This on the heels of both me and Emily having just wrapped up cases of flu type B only a week before.  As a result, I was pretty confident he was coming down with it as well but was not going to miss the appointment on the following day regardless.  So, I wrapped his face in a surgical mask and got him to the appointment the next day.  Fortunately he was feeling a reasonable degree better but I wanted to diminish the risk to the ENT staff and other patients by at least covering his coughing & sneezing.  Still, I was working through how I was going to place a call to the pediatrician after this appointment to have him tested so maybe we could introduce Tamiflu earlier and minimize his flu as much as possible.

After 15 minutes of relentless new patient paperwork (a topic for a whole other post - why are we still filling out physical paperwork for this?!?), we were called back to the room promptly and the ENT doc arrived shortly afterward.  After a quick look in Kilian's ears he stated that there was a significant build up of wax and that he'd get it vacuumed out and figure out where we stand when he can see the inner ear.  That gave me an immediate sense of relief in that at least there was an obvious and approachable obstruction versus the mystery left dangling at the pediatrician.

He took us to the room next door which had a microscope (giant magnifying glass on an arm) where he could see better for the wax removal.  He stuck a small metal funnel into Killian's right ear and began vacuuming with a small tool that looks very similar to the water dispensing spray device at the dentist's office.  Once he completed work on the right ear he moved over and repeated in the left.  After it was done he said that things looked pretty good and normal but that they would give Killian a full hearing test to be sure.  Cue *very* relieved dad.

After standing up from the table where he was having his ears vacuumed, Killian said "Dad, I think I got it back!" while snapping his fingers together on each side of his head and smiling widely.  It was at this point that even deeper guilt set in that I hadn't noticed the decrease in his hearing that me must have been enduring for months.  Still, I was very excited to see that there was immediate improvement.  As we sat down to wait for the hearing test he exclaimed "I can hear by pants scraping against the seat!"

For the hearing test, they placed him into a sound proof room and proceeded to play a mix of sounds and spoken words asking him to respond when he heard or repeat back the words at varying volumes.  When complete, he came out with all hearing in normal ranges.  Whew!

A couple of interesting things came from this experience.  One was a sense of justification and relief in having my initial suspicion identified as the actual cause of the hearing loss.  A related other was a sense of frustration that the pediatrician couldn't recognize simple wax build up.  The ENT said that he thought maybe the pediatrician was misidentifying a change in the wax color for the eardrum but it still shakes my confidence in the pediatrician.  Another is a recognition that I am terrified of having my child lose his hearing or sight.  That's obviously atypical for any parent but I was a little surprised at how prevalent the worry was for me before I knew the cause.

This is the outstanding fears I spoke of at the beginning.  I recall worrying so much during pregnancy, birth and the first few months of Killian's life that he would be impaired by some birth defect.  I realize now that I assumed I had moved past some of those fears in at least some way as he has moved through development stages but they are apparently lurking just out of consciousness ready to rear back at the smallest sign of threat.

Anyway, I am very relieved to say that he is doing great and his hearing is back to normal.  It is interesting where the brain will go when given the opportunity.

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