The Answers to “What the Hell Are Tubes?”

My son had tubes put in last week. He had multiple infections in his 19 month old ears and the doctor had suspected that the excess fluid in his ears were causing hearing complications.

You probably have heard the term, "tubes" thrown around parent circles. In fact, recent stats say that almost 2 million American kids get tubes every year. But if you are like me, you probably have no real clue what it is really about. In this article, I will do my best to talk you through the technical stuff, the surgery stuff, and the post-op stuff.

THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Tubes is the street name for Tympanostomy Tubes: the name given to a tube that is  surgically inserted into the eardrum in order to ventilate and equalize the pressure in the middle ear.

Basically, to hear your brain needs to pick up signals from nerves. The nerves in the inner ear receive signals from vibrating bones in the middle ear. The middle ear bones start shaking from the vibration of the eardrum. But you see, the eardrum normally starts knocking because sound bounces around the middle ear. But when your kid has fluid filling up inside the cavity, the sound will not bounce as well and there can be a whole host of issues.

{mosnooad}The first problem is ear infections. The fluid has no where to escape and like any time you have standing moisture, you're gonna have some issues. The second problem can be hearing difficulties (because of the whole non vibrating thing) which can lead to speech development issues. The theory is that if your kid can't hear you clearly, they will not be able to mimic the sounds and talk themselves.

THE SURGERY
Tubes surgery is never the first choice. The ear infections will be treated first with antibiotics. But sometimes, if your kid is like mine, surgery is a necessity. Surgery typically takes less than 30 minutes and most of the time, your kid will be acting as if nothing happened later that day. There are 2 things about the surgery that you need to know.

1. When this surgery is done on adults, it is with a local anesthetic. But because kids can be restless, and the surgery deals with a sensitive part like the eardrum, general anesthesia is used for them. This is by far the most difficult part of the entire process. It's hard because you are there pinning down your kid as the anesthesiologist puts a mask over their mouth and they kick and scream and stare you right in the eyes as they fall asleep. It only takes about 15 seconds for the gas to kick in but the look on my son's face is one that I will never forget.

2. When your kid starts waking up, they will freak out. They will scream and cry like you have never heard them cry before. This is because they are wicked dizzy and they have no friggin clue what happened. It is sort of like those people who get abducted by aliens and get confused because they have missing time. The anesthesiologist who met with my wife and I before the surgery explained it to us this way: "Your kid has never been hung over before. And that's what they will feel like."

In our situation we were only allowed only one person in the operating room (to help him go to sleep) and only one person in the recovery room. I took the OR duty and my wife did the recovery room duties. I think this was the right decision as I don't think I would have wanted my wife to experience the look my son gave me as I pinned him down on the operating table, and there is no doubt in my mind that the only person he wanted when he woke up was mommy. I recommend you talk to your wife about the different roles ahead of time.

AFTER SURGERY
Kids are normally given painkillers and are prescribed ear drops. After the recovery room, your kid will get their vitals checked before discharge and then you are free to go. Total time is typically under 3 hours.

The tubes typically fall out on their own between 6 and 18 months. There are instances when the tubes do not fall out, and surgery is needed to remove them. Alternatively, sometimes, the tubes fall out early and you need to do a repeat surgery.

My son slept a little extra on the day of his surgery, and then by the next day, he reverted back to his old ways. It is still too early to tell the full impact of the surgery but we hope that not only will it reduce the amount of ear infections but will help his speech development.

Do any noodads have any other questions or have other tips to share?