The ENT visit

Last Thursday brought the boys and I to Duluth yet again to see the ENT. (if you wish to skip my crazy story and just find out the results of the ENT appointment, scroll to the bottom where it says: RESULTS).
We left early in the morning and they were excellent in the car. Parker was a bit challenging some of the time but over all they were both very good. Emmitt fell asleep as we pulled into Hermantown. So I decided to get gas and juice and head down the hill with plenty of time.
That was until the first pump I pulled up to would not work. Some fine reversing on my part in a busy gas station to get angled into another pump. For that pump to just say "see attendant" after I had pumped my gas. It might as well read "hey lady, leave your kids, one of them sleeping, in the car, at a crazy busy intersection, in a strange town, for just a minute and come inside while I waste your time". Which is exactly what I did. I locked them in the car and I think said "don't move" while I went inside.
I asked what was the problem and he said I need your card.
Well I left that in the car buddy, let me go get it! I thought I already paid?
You did, ma'am or at least the screen said you paid but there seems to be an issue with your card.
Okay, here ya go, try again.
Nope, it is saying it is rejected. Do you have another card?
Of course I do...in the car! So I grab that one and check on the kids (still fine), swipe the card and it goes through and he says
well maybe somebody stole your other card and they put a freeze on it!
Well aren't you optimistic! Geesh.
So on the road again with rightfully paid gas in my car. Barely enough time to park, unload the stroller, wake Emmitt up, buckle him in, let Parker push all the elevator buttons for each and every person in the stinking elevator, briskly walk the sky walk, stop at every water fountain for Parker to get a drink and to listen to Emmitt whine that he can't have one, and check in for the appointments. We actually have some time to visit with all the other Falls people in the waiting room. For Parker to announce loudly that he has to poop. For him to poop. For me to get a whiff of Emmitt in the waiting room and realize he filled his pants. To maneuver the stroller back into the bathroom and change Emmitt. Sit down for just a second just for them to call our name for our appointment.
RESULTS:
When the doctor comes in the room the kids sprout devil horns and start acting like wild deranged children who just spent three hours in a car seat. Each time I apologized he just said, "it's okay, I understand". So since Parker refuses to move out of the exam chair I have doc check his tubes and they look perfect. Then my turn with Emmitt on my lap and Parker next to me in the chair. My ears, I have apparently poked a few times, too far and hit the ear drum with a Q-tip and he said to be careful or use the baby swabs on everybody in the family. My nose looks great, my throat too. But with my history of strep he recommends that I have my tonsils out. I can book a surgery on a Monday in Duluth or a Thursday in Superior. Thursday, he recommended since then somebody would be home over the weekend with me for the worst few days. He says I am not too old, it isn't fun, but survivable. He has operated on older. Then we review my CT scan and he says I am not a candidate for the sinus surgery but that we can treat it like migraines and allergies and hopefully keep the symptoms at bay. Having my tonsils out should reduce the amount of sickness I get and therefore keeping the colds from settling in my sinus' and causing that infection. It's all a cycle. Emmitt's turn. He still has fluid on his right ear after 5 months, but the left has cleared. The left had fluid on it for 3 months, but in the last 2 months that has cleared on it's own. So doc was hopeful that the right would clear on it's own. He said that any time we are in to see our family doc to have the ear checked to document the time frame. But that we are going to give Emmitt a chance without surgery and see if he grows out of it. He isn't having ear infections, just the sterile fluid on his ears like Parker did. It's common to have this run in families. So he recommended that any story telling on our lap be done by speaking to Emmitt's left ear so that he hears the words properly and not like being under water. That should help him develop his speech properly. If we speak to his right ear he is going to hear the muffled sound like Parker did for all those months. Or sit him on our lap facing us and the book propped up so he can hear the words straight on and watch our mouths while we speak. He is a great doctor with tons of patience. So next I just have to find 2 weeks time to be off of work and get help with the boys. Thinking the end of August. You know our Pequot scrappin' trip is the beginning of August...nothing between that and Fulton's wedding at the end of August. We shall see...

Oh and my card? I called the bank yesterday and she says, it looks fine and says active. Try using it in town. I did. It worked.