Ear (burst eardrum) update

I've been thinking it was about time time to post an update on Mr. S's burst eardrum.  Its been quite a while since it happened.  Early testing showed the expected hearing loss because of the hole in the ear drum.  It needed time to heal before anything could be done (if indeed we would need to do anything, there was a good chance it would heal just fine on its own).  Because of the move it took us a while to get more followup here.  Testing last month showed minimal hearing loss (but he was now in the "normal" range).  It was decided that 2 months of natural remedies to clear up remaining fluid would be tried before moving on to steroids or surgery.  The doctor recommended a nettie pot.

Unfortunately a cold last week lead to an ear infection.  I'm thankful we purchased an otoscope after the last episode, one look and it was obvious the ear was infected.  It came on even more suddenly than last time which lead to a late night battle with Tricare to get a referral to an ER to avoid another burst ear drum (since by that time at night there were no Urgent Care facilities open).  It was so hard to watch him rapidly getting worse and be stuck on the phone battling for what we knew he needed.  Eventually Daddy just took him in while I continued on the phone.  I'm thankful for the (3rd) lady I talked to that understood the situation and the need to be seen ASAP.  Between her and her supervisor they were eventually able to put the needed referral in.

 The antibiotics are doing their job and his ear is recovering.  We will need to head into the ENT sooner than later to find out how much this has set back his healing.  I'm in the process of trying to get that appointment scheduled....