say what?...part 2

Luke had his appointment with the ENT specialist this morning.

I was pretty worried that we would come away not having any answers and even more worried about Luke's speech.

That was not the case, and I am so relieved!

 I finally feel at peace with Luke's ears and speech issues.  It has been on my mind and on my mother radar for quite some time now.

The doctor/specialist is great, and he is the one that put Luke's tubes in last year. 

He said that Luke's left ear tube was out, and just sitting there in his ear canal.  Good for nothing, but tickling Luke's ear and driving him nuts. That would explain why Luke has been digging and itching that ear.  Ugh, can you imagine how annoying that would be! Poor kid. 
The doctor just got some tweezers and pulled it right out.

He even put it in some tape and gave it to us to take home.  I am not sure what to do with it, so it is still just in my wallet.  Yup, I will go to pay for groceries, and there will be Luke's gunky tube hanging from my wallet.  :)

His right tube is still in, but it is blocked, and therefore good for a whole lot of nothing.  We don't know how long it has been this way, but my hunch is that it has been quite a while.  If Luke had another ear infection, we would not have known, because nothing would have been able to drain out of the tube.

Both of Luke's eardrums are floating around in some nasty, thick fluid, that is absolutely affecting his hearing.  This has been the case since Luke was an infant.  The doctor said he didn't even need to do a hearing test to know that Luke's hearing is being greatly jeopardized because of this fluid, and therefore affecting his speech...or lack of.

Best news is...there is a solution!  And it is easy!

Luke is going to Primary Children's in a few weeks, to get his tubes put back in.  Well, his left tube put back in, and his right tube replaced.

The doctor is also going to remove his adenoid, not his tonsils, just his adenoids.  That is most likely the culprit of all of his infections and fluid and junk.

The surgery is 30 minutes tops, and has no painful recovery time.  He will be fine as soon as we are home.

The doctor said that Luke's speech should take off once this is all taken care of and the fluid is gone.   He has seen it before, in numerous cases like ours.

It is not too late, and Luke won't need speech therapy either.

I am so relieved and so happy for Luke.  Just a few more weeks of this poor guy hearing like he is underwater, and then it will all be clear for him.

A whole new world awaits him!