a couple of years ago, the pediatrician recommended that our little monkey have the ever-popular eustachian tubes surgery to prevent frequent ear-infections. as a last resort, we followed our acupuncturist’s advice (in consultation with our doctor), and we took the monkey off of milk. we gave him tiny flavored doses of omega three fatty acids instead, and miraculously, the infections abated.

meanwhile, countless friends took their kids in for ear surgery. we were smug.

but in the six months since the bird reached ear-infection age (which, for us, is just under a year old), both kids have had an estimated EIGHT DAYS without ear infections. i have already bemoaned the fact that we are frequent flyers at our doctor’s office, so i’ll spare you the details in this post. needless to say, we were a bit less smug when it became clear that both boys needed tube surgery.

yesterday was the big day. i use the word “day” here loosely, since we had to be at the surgery center (thirty minutes away) before the ever-loving sun came up. the bird scored a couple of eustachian tubes. the monkey did too, in exchange for his adenoids.

MANY friends assured us that this surgery is not a big deal. such was true for the bird, who did not have his adenoids removed. but the adenoid removal involved a morphine IV, an hour-long recovery room cryfest, and the fact that something located here…

…was removed by way of the nose (how is that even possible?). to me, this constitutes a big deal.

but by the end of the day, the bird was beaming with a new vibrancy since he can now actually hear what we’re saying! the monkey woke up from his afternoon nap still looking pale, but he then proceeded to eat a good supper and jump around with his usual vigor.

now, when i am sharing our tubes/adenoids experience with other moms, i will say that the bad parts are over quickly. also, the resiliency of children is truly worthy of awe. in fact, i’d even say that it too is a big deal!