In the grand scheme of all possible health issues M could be dealing with, I am thankful it is this.
I had this same surgery when I was a child.
Three weeks ago, he had medial tympanoplasty, which is a complicated way of saying he had muscle removed from behind his ear and placed over the hole in his eardrum.
He has had a hole in his eardrum for nearly five years, but until this surgery, I didn't realize that the hole was 70% of his eardrum.
At least once a year, we go to the audiologist for specially-made plugs to prevent water from getting into his ear. He has failed hearing tests for years, but we have always anticipated that once the hole was closed, his hearing would return to normal (or very close to normal).
In these three post-surgical weeks, we have seen his ENT three times and will see him again on Monday. M is on his second antibiotic. He has had the graft poked to settle it down and remove pus behind it. He has had boric acid powder puffed into his ear. His eardrum is now purple because Dr. B put gentian violet on it to keep yeast at bay.
And I know that this is small beans compared to a child who has cancer or a heart condition or so many other issues that so many families contend with.
Yesterday, I got the bill from his surgery, which again places me in the position where I am at once thankful that it is a minor issue and horrified at the expense, not only because it is a sizable chunk of change but because my mind goes there.
There is where I think about what could be....another surgery if this graft doesn't hold, all the myriad health conditions we haven't had but could have, all the families whose children have chronic major illnesses who see these types of insurance bills on the regular.
It feels like it could break me sometimes.
Yesterday, I asked Dr. B when he would feel confident that the graft is gonna hold.
Actually what I asked was, "When will I be able to stop taking extra half-doses of antidepressants over this?"
Those are identical questions, really.
Six weeks was his answer.
We are halfway there.
I had this same surgery when I was a child.
Three weeks ago, he had medial tympanoplasty, which is a complicated way of saying he had muscle removed from behind his ear and placed over the hole in his eardrum.
He has had a hole in his eardrum for nearly five years, but until this surgery, I didn't realize that the hole was 70% of his eardrum.
At least once a year, we go to the audiologist for specially-made plugs to prevent water from getting into his ear. He has failed hearing tests for years, but we have always anticipated that once the hole was closed, his hearing would return to normal (or very close to normal).
In these three post-surgical weeks, we have seen his ENT three times and will see him again on Monday. M is on his second antibiotic. He has had the graft poked to settle it down and remove pus behind it. He has had boric acid powder puffed into his ear. His eardrum is now purple because Dr. B put gentian violet on it to keep yeast at bay.
And I know that this is small beans compared to a child who has cancer or a heart condition or so many other issues that so many families contend with.
Yesterday, I got the bill from his surgery, which again places me in the position where I am at once thankful that it is a minor issue and horrified at the expense, not only because it is a sizable chunk of change but because my mind goes there.
There is where I think about what could be....another surgery if this graft doesn't hold, all the myriad health conditions we haven't had but could have, all the families whose children have chronic major illnesses who see these types of insurance bills on the regular.
It feels like it could break me sometimes.
Yesterday, I asked Dr. B when he would feel confident that the graft is gonna hold.
Actually what I asked was, "When will I be able to stop taking extra half-doses of antidepressants over this?"
Those are identical questions, really.
Six weeks was his answer.
We are halfway there.
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