I don’t know if you guys remember, but we’ve had some issues with Knox’s ears over the years. And his speech. And his body movement, but today we are focusing on the ears.
A brief history of Knoxs ears…
Last year just before he turned 4 we took him to the Audiologist. This was only because he’d been flagged for an ear test earlier in the year and we were only just getting to it. late as usual. When she tested, she couldn’t even see into his ears because of all the wax. Luckily her office bordered on the ENT’s office and so we popped in to have it removed.
He pulled out like 2.5 cm long wax worms out of his ears! It was both gross and impressive all wrapped up into one. He had not seen that much wax in a three year old childs ears before. Ever. We obviously thought that it was going to solve everything because how could that NOT have been the problem? We then went back to the Audiologist who did another test on his ears. This time said that his speech was still age appropriate but noticed that there was a tiny thing wrong with his right ear. Between the two of them they figured it was the current cold that he had and we should watch it and then come back if necessary.
Fast forward to now… Is there progress?
He’s been doing two terms of speech therapy and although he is trying really hard, he isn’t really making progress. He’s just not making the sounds that he should be. We’ve had to do some soul searching and for a number of factors, we’ve decided to keep him back a year. Which means that we also wanted to make sure we could cross this off the list as this has been flagged before. (The year back thing is really for another post which I’ll write in the next few weeks).
Then we started noticing that it was getting really bad. He’d cock his head towards us when we talked to him. So that his good, left ear was the one listening. Then I noticed the wax build up again and realised it was really time to take action.
So what now?
Initially I wanted to save money so I called the GP to see if they would do it. They said yes, no problem, but we need to put Waxsol in his ears for 3 days before. Which we did. But when we went there, she said that she wasn’t comfortable taking out the wax in case she accidentally perforated his eardrum. She didn’t charge us. Aside from being a bit pissed that I’d wasted my time, I was obvs going to the ENT and paying the money.
Time to bring out the big guns. A trip to the ENT
We went and took out the wax again to see where we were at. In a year he had built up another massively long ear worm. Which is quite crazy for his age, but nothing to worry about specifically. Knox was a champ, sat so still and only giggled because it tickled him a little.
However once it was out the Doc checked in his ears and noted that he has chronic otisis media with effusion. Cool, but like what the hell is that? It’s when the air pipe on the inside of his ear should be filled with air, but is actually filled with fluid. It’s actually physically stopping him from hearing the sounds that he struggles to make on the daily (th, p, s, t, etc)! He did another test with a metal prong (which has a name but I can’t remember what it is), and it just reaffirmed that he couldn’t hear any of the sound in front of his ears but only behind them. Basically a textbook case for the grommets to be put in.
We’re going for grommets on 18 December.
Another thing which he noted and actually got quite passionate about is that you should not be putting Waxsol or the like in little ears as it melts the wax and it goes down to the eardrum and latches on it. Making it even harder to hear and painful to remove. There’s the free advice so you don’t have to pay your ENT to tell you the same thing. (I’m obvs not an ENT so you should totally pay him if you want actual advice. Duh).
It’s been a bit of a shock but I know that this is actually going to help him more than anything else we could try and do naturally.
I must admit I’m feeling all the feels…
Although despite all this, I think the biggest thing is that I am quite sad that he won’t be “speaking Knox” anymore. I’ve grown quite used to his special language and I’m a little bummed that it’s going to be lost. Be prepared for lots of videos so that we can always look back on it 😉
Oh and there’s this!!
27 comments
My son had grommets put in when he was 2 because of chronic ear infections. I think he had them put in twice or three times in total (was a long time ago). He had a year or 2 of speech therapy because the ear infections affected the way he heard words. He is now a healthy 20 year old and coped well through school and did well in English and Afrikaans.
That is wonderful feedback! I’m so glad that we live in a time where we have these things available to fix them 🙂
I read many of your posts but don’t always find the need to respond! This particular post touched me. My precious baby boy (6 but hey he is my baby still) is also having a difficult time with speech and certain core function development . After counseling we have also decided to keep him back a year and this was one of the hardest things as a mom I have had to come to terms with. We want our children to grow and develop and have a healthy childhood but not everything goes to plan. To be strong for our children as well as ourselves is even harder. We know the decisions we make is to benefit them but it’s still hard, I still shed a tear every now and again but I know this is the best thing for him. I feel we under estimate our inner strength and I just want to say that this post helped me realize I’m not the only mom going through these everyday challenges. Thank you
Hey Sam, you are definitely not alone in this! I know those feelings and we just went through them in the last few months, but like you say, I’m sure that we are making the best decision for our boys!
My daughter had grommets at 13 months, after endless war infections. We never looked back. Been the best thing for her! Good luck with Knox, hope it works as well and your little man is able to hear clearly thereafter!
The only regret that I have is that we didn’t really bring him in sooner for this. We could have stopped it ages ago. Ugh mom guilt.
I actually have the same wax problem with my son… and he hates me prodding in his ears….and yes the GP also told me about the waxsol stuff…tried nd it didn’t work… time for me to visit the ENT with a very scared 9 yr old ???
Just let him know that if 5 year old Knox can handle it, so can he 🙂
My son had similar, first set of grommets at age 3. Just be aware that children with chronic ear issues often also seem to have learning issues (who knows if its a symptom of or a consequence of) so keep a close eye on learning and tackle all issues early. Grommets are fabulous and make a World of difference. My sons chronic ear infections were often set off by seasonal and grass allergies and things also improved when we started low dose antihistamines. Remember grommets don’t stop the infections, they just allow for drainage of the all the gross stuff. Much strength… first ops are always toughest on the mom!!!
Does the gross stuff come out and on their pillows? Yeah we are watching Knox quite closely, hoping that with the grommets it will help. But like you say, he’s not a huge fan of school and sitting still to learn, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that.
Sounds like grommets a great plan….we were amazed at the leap in speech from our eldest as soon as grommets went it at 3 years old…she was obviously hearing way better and luckily it’s not an op that leaves you with a miserable child in pain so bonus 😛
Yes thank goodness – from what everyone has told me it’s a quick in and out and the worst part is just the waking up! Iam glad to hear everyone’s happy stories about it. Feeling SO much better
Wonderful news that his hearing will be sorted.. My son had grommets when he was 3 too…
Did it make a huge difference to his hearing and speech?
His speech was not affected but his hearing improved tremendously.
I loved this post, Cindy. We have our own Super Hero that might need a hearing test as well, and reading all of your little facts and the road to here is awesome because it cuts my number of trips down. I’ve been meaning to take him for a hearing test – but just as I was about to, he started saying more words and talking more……. but now I’m feeling the nudge to take him anyway because it might just be nothing but it could be two less trips to the ENT – Na mean? thanks for sharing your practical knowledge, this mom is grateful ??
Totally with you! It’s frustrating having to go back and forth and spend unnecessary money that we worked so damn hard for! I hope you get it sorted though, it’s such a relief now to have a real plan!
Hey Cindy, I understand all the feels you going through. I had to make that decision with my eldest daughter when she was in grade 1. She is now in grade 4. It is by far the hardest yet best decision I have ever made.. rather at a young age than later on in life. Stay strong, he will thank you one day. 🙂
Did you notice a big improvement after you did it?
It is hard to keep our kids back a year, but I believe it is better to do it while young, before “big school” when it will have more of an emotional impact too…I work at a school and it makes such a difference to their abilities and performance when they are working at a level they are ready for… Happy that the solution is simple ie grommets
All the best with Knox’s ears – I often just wonder how they must feel. Glad that you are sorting it out.
And on another note… yay to christmas giveaways!!
Right? I have been wondering the same thing, like how is he feeling? What does the world sound like to him?
I am so glad you found the answer!
We kept L back a year rather young too and it was without a doubt the very best decision we ever made fro him. You will not be sorry
so glad you have found a solution, My daughter is 4 and half also struggled with her speak took her to ear specialist ann therewas no problems what so every so with hearing so we started with speech therapy and it did her a world of good and we also started her in creche 2 terms ago and that also seemed to improve her speech, but what a scary process it is initially
Totally! It feels like a battle you may never win!
[…] the holidays Knox went for his operation to have his grommets put in. It took us quite a while to realise that he needed them, but when we did, we wanted to get it sorted […]