Re: Missing messages....

Posted By Med Help on September 12, 1998 at 06:59:55:

In Reply to: Missing messages.... posted by Dee on September 10, 1998 at 22:11:02:






I believe that the two messages I posted got overlooked.  One was from way back on July 31 or thereabouts...entitled Lupus in a Child.  The other may very well have been overlooked because it was posted under a question about ear infections that had already been answered by one of the doctors....since the topic was similar I posted there not thinking that maybe nobody would look at it again.  In that second message I also requested attention to the July 31 post.  The second message was under the title ear infections and I forgot the exact date but it was the end of August, the last day or so of the month.  You provide a wonderful service and I appreciate the availability of this forum.  I did get an e-mail asking me to do some kind of survey since I posted on this forum, but haven't done it yet since I haven't had any answers to the posts!  Thanks!
Dee




Dee;
If you go into the Archive and do a search by Author (Dee) you'll see the
second question was answered (see below). I'm not sure why the first
question was not answered. If you'd like, copy the old message and
paste it as a new message.
Phil
Med Help



---------------
Thank you for your question. You are right to be concerned about your granddaughter's continued ear infections. The first question
I must ask though is she completing her entire course of antibiotic therapy when it is prescribed? It is very important that children
take every dose until it is all gone, and not stop when the symptoms are gone or she feels better. As she intermittently gets drainage
from the tubes, you can assume they are patent. Tubes do occasionally "plug up" or fall out. The pediatrician can tell if this happens
by looking in the ear with the otoscope. Often, a continued ear infections can be linked to allergies. You may consider having her seen
by a pediatric allergist. Are there allergies in the family? Are there a lot of allergens in the home....smokers, pets, molds, dust?
Frequently with allergies the adenoids (adenoids) are enlarged. These sit at the back of the nose, and often are the reason for tubes in the first
place. You didn't mention if she had an adenoidectomy when they put the tubes in. If she did, this would open up the other end of the
eustacian tube and she would get drainage that way. You may consider looking at the policies of the day care center....is your
granddaughter getting frequent exposure to colds or allergens there? I would suggest your granddaughter be seen by the ENT
specialist who put the tubes in as well as an allergist. The longer she remains on antibiotics the more likely she is to be infected with
resistant strains of bacteria.
Good luck.
HFHS.RN-AM
*KEYWORD: Otitis Media, allergy, myringotomy, tympanoplasty