It stands for Ear, Nose, Throat. Ava and I visited one today to see if he could give us any information on why Ava’s getting so many strep infections. As frustrating as her recurring bouts of the virus have been, dealing with them sure beats obsessing about whether to circumcise our next child, should it arrive with a penis.
Ava was a champ at the appt. As soon as the nurse came in and started talking to me, Ava said, “Excuse me, Dr. There aren’t any shots today?”
“Nope,” replied the nurse.
“And no finger pricks.”
“No.”
“And no throat scrapes?”
“No. No throat scrapes.”
The nurse then looked over at me, as if to say, “Who is this little person, anyway?” Ava is very adamant about the events of her doctor visits.
So, it looks like an adenotonsillectomy may be in Ava’s future. When the doctor arrived and started going over the specifics of the procedure, Ava gathered pretty quickly that the operation might not be her cuppa; she hopped into my lap and started fussing about not wanting her tonsils taken out. Poor little bunny. Not even the promise of ice cream, slushies, and popsicles seemed to calm her jangled nerves. No parent relishes the idea of putting his kid under general anesthetic, but this is a relatively short procedure that carries minor risks (again, relatively speaking). Benefits supposedly include a much better general level of health. Fewer viral infections (like strep), and less nasal/sinus congestion, from which Ava suffers.
Leah, of course, is busy gathering second, third, and fourth opinions. While I understand her need to exhaust every channel of discovery before embarking on surgery for her daughter, I’m more of a mind that the trigger sometimes just needs to be pulled. I think it’s safe to say we’ve been very satisfied with the outcome of Ava’s myringotomy, and I don’t see a reason to expect we won’t see similar benefit from this procedure. Short-term pain, long-term gain.