Ear tubes and other related questions

I am not a frequent poster but I do read this forum all the time and am amazed at how helpful this forum is. I am hoping that some of you can answer a few questions that I have re DS.

My son just turned 1 and he's had fluid in his ears since July. So my pedia suggested seeing an ENT for possible ear tube placement. We were leaning towards Dr. Lee Smith but the earliest appt that they can give me is for late Oct. I have heard mostly good reviews about Dr. Lee on this forum. My first question is do you think we should wait for a month to see him or should we go to another doctor (I was able to make an appt with a Dr. Eli Grunstein for Oct 5). I am just scared of the time we are wasting by waiting for my son's appt. He is babbling a lot and saying a lot of words but he is very unstable and is not walking yet (which I think has to do with the fluid in his ears). He also does not sleep well specially at night.

My other question is has anyone here opted to try and wait if the ears will drain on its own? My husband is a bit scared of giving our son general anesthesia.

My last question is can anyone recommend another ENT that works in Nassau?

Thanks!

Re: Ear tubes and other related questions

We used Dr. Mendelhson's office in garden city. all the dr.s there are terrific.

I wouldn't wait.. why torture him!! We tried to wait it out but he kept getting infections and was on antibiotics so much he became resistant to one of them.. this was the best option.

they are under for maybe 1/2 hour tops!!! GOOD LUCK!!

Re: Ear tubes and other related questions

i wouldnt wait. AJ was done in less than 15mins.

I'm not on Long Island anymore so I have no recommendations.. but I say do it.

ETA: AJ was a semi-late speaker.. not a lot of words at 2yrs old. No sentences and basically behind (however she did not qualify for EI, tho they too suggested tubes at one testing). They put her tubes in at 17m. From then her speech got better a few months later and finally at nearly 3 she exploded with speech.

Message edited 9/21/2011 2:47:43 PM.