So, about the bad mother thing...yeah. Well, turns out I let an ear infection go too long and her eardrum ruptured.
I feel sick to my stomach. I mean, she never ran a fever, the only symptom she had was some pain that Tylenol took care of, and I've successfully waited out situations like that before. A lot of ear infections self-resolve. As soon as the pain escalated and she seemed to be getting worse I made an appointment.
But I was too late. I suck.
Doc says she'll be okay, 90% of situations like this heal up cleanly and leave no lasting effects. He'll check the eardrum after the infection's gone to make sure the hole closes up.
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My eardrum burst twice, and I just am fine. Makes the pain much better when it bursts. And many ear infections clear up without antibiotics. So you didn't do anything wrong. Eardrums just burst sometimes. Might have burst even if she had earlier doctor care.
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Before they had antibiotics, they used to just puncture the eardrum to relieve the pain anyway.
My mom remembers being in bed with rheumatic fever when she was 3 or 4 and watching the doctor come do it to her sister.
That's when she decided she wanted to be a nurse.
But I understand how you feel. I always feel horrible when I let Emma do something I think she can do, or that she's done before, and she slips and hurts herself. You're a good mom. It's not your fault your kid's such a trouper she doesn't complain until her eardrum ruptures. (((hugs)))
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Thanks for the hugs, too. She was in a lot of pain last night, which is when I made the decision to keep her home from school and take her to the doctor today, but today she was just fine. Probably because, like you said, the eardrum ruptured, released the pressure, and stopped hurting. I almost, almost didn't take her in today, because she seemed so much better. I'm glad I did though, because she definitely needed the antibiotics to help clear this up. He gave me some ear drops to use as well.
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quote: So, about the bad mother thing...yeah. Well, turns out I let an ear infection go too long and her eardrum ruptured.
Ouchies.
When I was 15, I went to summer camp and swam too deep. My eardrum didn't just rupture -- it exploded. And water rushed in. Way deeper than it should have. It -- and the subsequent night on the ground and no pain medicine -- was one of the most painful experiences of my life.
I was lucky for one reason -- I'd had tubes in my ears when I was little. When an eardrum ruptures (especially as violently as mine did), it often tears a ragged hole in the eardrum that can lead to hearing loss, difficulty healing and scar tissue. Luckily, when you have tubes put in, the doctor cuts a circular hole in the four membranes of the eardrum. When those holes heal, only one layer grows back, leaving a weak spot on the eardrum. This is the place where mine ruptured, meaning I didn't have to worry about hearing loss.
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If it helps, I've had dozens of ear infections growing up, and I'm sure it's ruptured at least once. They're no fun, but they heal. (((Belle and daughter))) Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Belle, don't beat yourself up over that. Many peds do take a wait and see stance anyway.She'll be fine.
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It's happened to me too. A couple times, actually. It's so hard to tell it from anything else, even when you're feeling the pain yourself, and it heals up real nice in a jiffy. Don't worry.
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She just thought it was really cool to see all the blood spurting and then the pus oozing out. Her mother almost fainted, but she was just fascinated.
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Belle, if it's any consolation my daughter's eardrum ruptured while on antibiotics. Oh, and this was *after* having tubes put in too. Ears and ear infections are just tricky things, I think.
I can relate, though. Operaetta had TWO abcessed teeth when we went to the dentist last time, and had never said a word about them! Of course, since she hadn't said anything and I rarely check her teeth like I'm buying a horse, I had no clue till the dentist told me. I felt just awful!
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Hehehe. kq, when I was at an airport in line last year this kid had a little nosebleed. The mom stayed in line and sent the oldest kid to help the nosebleed kid in the bathroom. The youngest kid was just beside herself wanting to go watch the nosebleed. It was so amusing to watch her get so excited over this itty bitty nosebleed.
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Actually, as many babies as are being born to mommies on this thread, they need a "Hatracker in training" bib.
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My daughter has two onesies, one of which says "Future Jatraquera" and one of which says "Jatraquera in Training", both signed by attendees of the last Wench Con. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Actually, small chilren are fascinated by any fluid or viscous substance that exits the body. Especially snot.
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I think that may be largely because of the reaction they get when they talk about it in public.
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When my son was a very little boy, he had an ear infection -- and was taking antibiotics for it -- when his ear drum burst, and goo ran out.
He was HORRIFIED. I was alarmed, too, but I didn't want to further alarm him, so I said really nonchalantly, "Why are you so upset? You've had a runny nose lots of times. So, a runny ear is the same thing. Just with the ear instead of the nose."
He was still kind of upset, and when he was distracted with something else, I called the doctor.
He said not to worry, it's just like a runny nose...
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Heh. Yeah, the second time my ear drum burst, I was in school, 7th grade. I was sooo embarrassed. I kept going to the bathroom so I could wipe out my dribbling ear in secret. I didn't think the other 7th graders would understand why I was wiping my ear. I was probably right.
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She's much, much better. Had some trouble finding the Floxin singles that were supposed to go in the ear but finally the 3rd pharmacy I tried had them in stock.
Last night she still needed some pain medicine to help her sleep (children's motrin) but today she hasn't complained.
Her hearing also doesn't seem to be affected, which is good.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I burst my eardrum once when I was little. I had just taught myself how to do flips off of the side of the pool and I was getting really good at it. So I decided I would try doing a flip off of the diving board like all the cool kids. Instead of doing a straight flip I kinda turned sideways and smacked the side of my face with the surface of the water. Needless to say my ear was the first thing to hit and the force of the water popped my eardrum. I came out of the water dizzy and crying very loud. It hurt a lot.
I am fine now, but I haven't tried doing flips into the pool since. It even furthered my cause when my little sister continued to do flips until she didn't quite push off and came head first onto the conrete on the side of the pool. She had to get staples in her head for that one.
My advice...don't do flips into water...it's bad for your health Posts: 306 | Registered: Jun 2003
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