So Sunday night Brookelyn started telling me her ear hurt about 9:40 pm. She had been sick for about 2 1/2 weeks prior, but, she had been doing so much better that day. We had been to church and she had started being her perky self again. She had even teased Grandpa Scott when we went for a short visit. Come 10 pm she was screaming bloody murder that her ear hurt. She kept covering her right ear and saying "Owie!". When she'd try to lay on her ear she'd almost immediately start screaming. Just before 11 pm I called my mom to ask what she thought I should do. We decided that a midnight trip to the ER likely wouldn't yield many results and to just try to get her to take some Motrin and tough it out. At 1:30 am Travis finally came home from work. Brookelyn had been screaming the entire previous 3 1/2 hours. I handed her to her daddy and within about 2 minutes the poor girl had completely exhausted herself and she was out. Just my luck! I went to bed while Travis stayed up with her (she didn't completely zonk for about another 30 minutes).
In the morning I called the ENT's office to see if they had an appointment available and told them what my night had been like (in the hopes they'd get me in quickly). Unfortunately, Dr. Blotter didn't have any appointments until 8:30 am Tuesday. Seriously! Fine. I took it but warned I may cancel and go to Instacare before then. Throughout the day Monday she didn't complain about her ear at all. She seemed to be a little bit happier (still some of that previous 2 1/2 weeks illness floating around, but nothing major). Just before we put Brooke down for bed she starts telling me her ear hurts again. She isn't screaming like a Banshee this time, but she's telling me how much it hurts. Monday night I asked Travis if he was still going to take her to her appointment for me in the morning....To which my husband replies, "You think she still needs to go?" Me: Yes! Travis: But she was fine all day. She slept last night, she's fine. I don't think she needs to go. I won't lie...I wanted to throttle him right there. I bit my tongue and said nothing planning to call the ENT's office in the morning and rearrange her appointment to a time of day that I could take her without missing work.
Tuesday morning I get up and start getting myself and kids ready for school. Travis wakes up and asks if he's going to be late for her appointment. I told him I had planned to just cancel it since he thought she was fine. (Yes, he could tell I was mad about that.) I finish getting ready and Brooke starts complaining again that her ear hurts. She even starts to cry because she says it's hurting so much. I leave to take the kids to school and call the ENT's office to see if there is an appointment available later in the day because she has, by now, missed her actual appointment. I am sadly informed that no, there are no other appointments today because Dr. Blotter is going to go over to Tremonton. I told the girl on the phone what was going on. She was kind enough to tell me to go ahead and just bring her in now and he can look at her. I tell her I'm in Hyrum and it will be at least 30 minutes before we get there - she's still kind enough to tell me to just bring her in. I called Travis and told him to get ready to take Brooke into the dr.
Tuesdays are crazy days for me. I have all 12 three yr olds in the morning from 9:15-11:15 and then go to the school to teach SEM from 12:45-3:15. To top off this fabulous day Caleb threw up three times while I was teaching preschool. Can I NOT catch a break here?! I didn't get to talk to Travis about Brooke until after preschool was over and even then it was mostly to inform him I had to go to work and he had another one at home needing his undivided attention due to puking. Against my better judgement, I asked what the ENT said........Guesses?????
Both of her ears are in fact quite infected. The right one more than the left one. Neither ear has a functioning tube left in it but there are tubes sitting in the ear canals. Much to my surprise, Travis scheduled tube surgery #18 while he was at the ENT's office. November 14th will mark a new milestone for this family. Oy. I'd seriously rather someone else hold this record!
