Ear Infection #7 (Reprise)

Monday, after four days on Omnicef, I took Clara back in because she still seemed unhappy. I was sure I was wrong and that ear infection #7 would be cleared, but the doctor took one look and said they were just as bad as they were the previous Friday. So she's probably had a raging ear infection for well over a week now. And she has conjunctivitis.

As does Lee. Both. The conjunctivitis and the double ear infection. So this is her second ear infection in a month. Yikes. My kids have taken more antibiotics than I thought they'd have in their entire lifetime.

It turns out that this particular conjunctivitis/ear infection combo is probably caused by a little bug called H Flu, which happens to respond particularly well to Augmentin, which is of course the antibiotic Clara just finished less than two weeks ago. Round and round we go....

But now it's Thursday, and today was the first day in a long time that Clara seemed happy, so the stuff must be working. It has been wonderful to see her smiling and laughing today. I have felt terrible that she has spent so much of the past six months being miserable. And selfishly, I feel we're missing out because this should be such a fun age, and she's our last child, and it's just slipping away with a low-grade fever and fussiness.

I am going to become proactive, however, because Bridges and I are both beginning to fear permanent damage to the ears. We've heard so many stories of people with scarring or hearing loss from recurrent or long-lasting ear infections. We have begun wondering whether she doesn't respond to us at times because she can't hear. Partly I think it's her personality - she tends to be a bit of a bulldog and does not want to be swayed from her course. But there's also the fact that she has about three words at 16 months. Lee had at least thirty by now. But then again second kids tend to talk slower, or so they say. It is so hard to know.

So here is my three-pronged approach. I have an appointment for her with an ENT and an audiologist in early May. I have an appointment next week with a chiropractor who treats alot of kids. And I am going to start dropping garlic-infused olive oil in to her ears a few times a day.

Hey, it can't hurt.