The Woes of Illness

As a new parent, one can never really be prepared for what it is like to have a child with a sickness (much less how it affects your life ie. taking off work, less sleep, dealing with insurance companies, etc.). But multiply that times two, and it's a whole new ballgame.
Before I begin, I must make a disclaimer that we have been blessed beyond our comprehension to have minor illnesses. Many families are affected with major, life-threatening diseases that I cannot even pretend to understand. My heart goes out to those who are dealing with much more severe situations. I thank God that G&A's health situations have been manageable, cureable, and all-in-all, not really big deals.
It has, however, been more than we have dealt with before and seeing your sweet angel in pain or discomfort can be heart-wrenching. Abigail has been relatively healthy. She has bad allergies and it is not uncommon for her to have a drippy nose or lots of sneezes. She has had a few colds and two ear infections to date. She has the occasional fever but never very high. George on the other hand, oh sweet George...

George has had ear infections continuously since he was 6.5 months old. He has been on antibiotics for that whole time less approx 3 weeks. Yes, count it, he has been on antibiotics for six months of his little life. For a while, we were counting the infections. But there came a point where we lost track of the number, after all, it's probably the same infection that has never gone away. It has either been in the right ear or both ears. We were referred to the otolaryngologist when he was 10 months old. We were able to hold off from getting the tubes until he was 11 months old, and in the past 1 1/2 months, he has had to have his ears drained twice. The doc said the integrity of the tubes is great and they are draining properly. Yes, we thought the tubes would fix everything. But alas, we were wrong.

He is currently on sulfa ear drops to treat the infection in his right ear. G's bacteria is resistant to the typical ear antibiotics that are given, so if the sulfa drops don't clear it up, they will culture the bacteria and attempt to discover what will kill it (wish we had already done this). Hopefully when we go back in a week, there will be no infection. I was hopeful until today, when I got him out of his crib, he had eye gunk and a raspy wheeze. Not looking good. We will also have another audiology exam in a month or so as the one two weeks ago showed "inconclusive"--which means that either he could not hear out of his right ear or Abigail distracted him and he did not respond to the test.

I have started researching alternatives to treat/prevent ear infections. The first line of defense is to keep him away from people with colds. Well, that is impossible unless we literally become hermits in our house. We decided that I would continue breastfeeding, since G has a weakened immune system and breastmilk is best for babies with ear trouble. I am happy about our decision and feel confident that breastmilk supplementing a nutritious diet will hopefully put him in a better situation. Again, the thought of "think of what his illness level would be like if you hadn't been breastfeeding" resonates and I want to help him as best I can. We also started both babies on multi-vitamins. Many sites talk about food allergies as being the cause of ear infections. Neither G nor A are on cow's milk (they drink soymilk), so the next most common allergen is wheat. Wheat is in nearly EVERYTHING, so we'll see how the other tactics work first. We might do an allergen test through our pediatrician, which would help us determine the cause a bit easier and quicker.

So if you have any ideas or suggestions, we are open to them. Many, many children have ear infections. Poor baby George just has a difficult time getting over his. Good news is he is still a very happy guy with great communication skills and full of life and vitality. JJ Waggoner put it perfectly, "when George listens to you, he listens with his whole face!" George is an amazing little boy and we have no doubt that he will overcome this challenge. His physical ability conquering is a testament to that....