New Ears for Ian

We went ahead and had ear tube surgery for Ian. There's a formal name, but I'm too lazy to look it up. The surgery is to place "rice-sized" tubes in each of Ian's ears through a small slit in the ear drum. The tubes are supposed to equalize the pressure in his ears. I can't really wrap my brain around what that means so I just imagine that they serve to drain the fluid that collects in his horizontal Eustachian tubes (they become more vertical as we get older). After 9 rounds of antibiotics we decided to avail ourselves of the wonders of modern medicine. I wasn't really nervous about the surgery because it was so clear that Ian needed help. We arrived at the Fairfax Surgical Center at 6:45AM this past Monday morning and were in downtown DC, through rush-hour traffic, at Steve's office by 9:30. In fact, the surgery took as long as a quick pee in the rest room. Seriously. I dropped Ian off in the operating room, waited while they knocked him out, stripped out of my surgical attire, went to the rest room, and the doctor came in the report on the results. It was very factory-like, but efficient, which I like. I didn't really have a need for touchy-feely in this situation, for some odd-reason.

Ian was instantly better. He has not pulled on his ears, yelled in pain, or shook his head as if he's trying to rid himself of the water lodged in his brain. I'm thrilled. I wouldn't say that sleep is anything to brag about yet, but we are definitely in better shape than we were a week ago.