Just Add It To The List of Things To Do.

We just got home from the ENT. Caleb passed his hearing tests with the audiologist, but he was determined to have a little fluid in one ear. This is the same song and dance we went through last year with the other ENT (remember the one with the PA who called our house and tried to pressure us into surgery, called us bad parents and generally harrassed us?).
Anyway, when I was talking with his (fabulous!!!) ENT, we discussed our options. Here they are:
A. load him up on more medication and see if it fixes the problem.
B. put tubes in his ears.

The problem with choice A is that Caleb already takes 4 different medications just for allergies and the things that are associated with them, middle and inner ear fluid included. If he has this fluid on all that, one more is not likely to fix the problem.
We chose option B. While it is another surgery to add to the list, this should fix the issue.
For those of you not familiar with what the problem is, let me put on my professor hat and explain.
There is a tube that connects your middle ear (the part behind your eardrum) with the back of your nose/throat area. In an adult, this tube is more vertical and all the fluid and gunk can drain into the the nose/throat area and then down to your stomach where the germs cannot survive and are done away with. In alot of children, this tube is more horizontal than vertical, so any fluid or stuff that gets in there will just sit, stagnate and the bacteria will multiply, causing infection and hearing loss. The older you get, the more the connection is made correctly between your ear and the nose/throat area and the less likely you are to get infections.
Caleb's ears are not so bad that he's getting infections, he's never had one in fact. However, fluid in your ears impairs hearing. Just imagine what it is like to try to hear correctly when you are under water in a swimming pool. That's what it sounds like when you have too much fluid...
Anyway, the tubes should fix the problem. We should be able to get in and have them done next week. I'll update when I know when and where.