Ear Tube Surgery Next Week

Please pray for Paige and the doctors, as she undergoes Ear Tube surgery this Tuesday, March 8th at 7:00am.  

She has had fluid in her ears since birth and only hears about 80%.  Since she is at an important stage in acquiring language development, it is important to get the fluid drained as soon as possible.  Cleft children can have hearing problems due to how their sinus anatomy allows fluid into ear canals and prevents them from draining properly, leading to higher risk of multiple ear infections.  We want to prevent actual damage that can lead to hearing loss.


In the hospital they test all newborns' hearing within the first couple of days. They are able to hook an electrode to the baby's head and measure certain brain waves,  while they emit sounds into their ears.  These brain signals help them determine what they can hear.  Paige failed on the right side and passed on her left.  They said this is common for all newborns and scheduled a follow up two weeks later.  At that appointment she failed on her left side and passed on her right, so we had an idea that it wasn't actual hearing damage but probably just fluid.  We were then referred to an audiologist who did more in-depth diagnostic tests and determined that she did have fluid behind her eardrums on both ears. 

So the next step was to meet the Pediatric Ear Nose & Throat doctor at Mission and he referred her to have tubes put in as soon as possible.  He said to her Pat, Rat, Bat all sound the same and she is already acquiring language skills at this age. The original plan was to have her tubes put in when they did the lip surgery, so that she would only have to be put under anesthesia once.  Well she needs them sooner rather than later.  Great news is we were told the ENT doctor is one of the best.  We know that ear tubes are very common even for children without clefts, so we don't have to worry too much.  Please do pray for a wonderful outcome and the full restoration of Paige's hearing.