We noticed our son, ‘Doods’, was struggling to follow instructions and had difficulty learning to talk from a young age. Finally, at the age of 3, he was diagnosed with glue ear.

Glue ear is when the middle of the ear (behind the ear drum) fills with a thick, sticky, glue-like substance. For ears to work properly the middle ear needs to be kept full of air. The air travels through the eustachian tube which runs from the middle ear to the back of the throat. In children this tube is not as vertical and wide as it will be when they get older and as a result doesn’t work as well. If the eustachian tube becomes blocked, air cannot enter the middle ear. When this happens, the cells lining the middle ear begin to produce fluid. This is a runny liquid which can get thicker as it fills the middle ear.

Doods had hearing aids fitted at the age of 3. Although these caused many ear infections and burst ear-drums, he persisted with them until he was just about to turn 5 years old. His Father and I noticed his hearing was still impacted, with the use of hearing aids making very little difference. Sadly, we also noticed his self-esteem become low. He wasn‘t the bouncy youngster he had been, he was frustrated being unable to hear and having to constantly ask, “pardon?” When being spoken to. He would always ask why his school peers didn’t have to wear hearing aids and would ask why was he ‘given bad ears?’.

We spoke with his Consultant and agreed it was time to try something new, as hearing aids simply were not serving their purpose. Doods had grommets fitted in both ears, by the NHS, in March 2019. It was a miracle. Doods came out of surgery a different boy. He could hear us! We didn’t have to raise our voices in order for him to be able to hear us, the T.V. wasn’t on full blast, the ear infections stopped, he made friends with his peers as he could hear them and join in with them. No longer did he feel ‘different‘ to them. He began to excel with his reading and school work, as he could now hear clearly and was able to easily follow instructions.

In Summer 2020, his grommets fell out naturally. Hoping this wouldn’t affect Doods, we kept a close eye on him and his hearing. Sadly though, his hearing has already rapidly deteriorated. He had a hearing test conducted yesterday, to which we were told by the Audiologist, Doods ‘may aswell be walking around with his fingers in his ears.’

Due to us moving home recently, he has changed schools. He can’t hear or interact with his new school peers. He has become shy. He becomes frustrated with himself when he can’t hear us.

Unbeknown to us, Doods was removed from the care of his Consultant last September (6 months after the grommets were fitted). We are back to square one. Our son can not hear, has lost his confidence, has already had an ear infection and will await at least a year to have grommets fitted by the NHS, due to the back log of appointments that have been postponed because of the current epidemic.

We are hoping to raise some money to put towards Doods having grommets fitted privately. This procedure could be carried out in as soon as 4 weeks if done private, enabling him to hear, play, learn and avoid the many ear infections he will inevitably have (if left untreated).

Stay tuned for fundraising updates - sponsored fundraisers are in the process of being thought and planned. Our boy loves to read, so perhaps a reading challenge may be on the cards!?

Thank you.