Today was the postponed and postponed again ENT visit. Or the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. Why did we go you ask? Back in December we had a very lovely sleep study at Ty's pulmonologist and sleep doc. She was not impressed with Ty's ability to stay oxygenated at night. She said she felt he had sleep apnea. Part was centralized ( which is bad.. oh so bad) but the moajority of it was obstructive. Which if you are gonna have apnea that is the "better" one to have.Centralized apena means that some where in his brain is a problem that is not allowing him to keep breathing. But the obstructive usually means that the child has something that we can HELP for him to sleep.
So off to the ENT we went. The ENT that we went to was great. I was pretty impressed with him. His bedside manners was very impressive. He was very kind to Tyler. He was VERY gentle and didn't seem to shocked to see that we were sitting there.
Generally, in specialist appointments ( especially since the depo lupron) that I find myself over emotional. This time.. NOTHING. Just had a lot of questions. I think I felt like they wouldn't come out with this SHOCKING and horrific problem that we couldn't fix.
As we did our exam ( and I say we because ME gets to hold down Tyler) Ty did pretty well. He didn't freak as much with this doctor as he did with his pediatrician yesterday. There was apparently lots to see and talk about.
The "funky" ear from yesterdays visit is in fact infected. Which means that in 4 years Ty has now had 2... THAT IS RIGHT 2 ear infections all in the last six months. Because he didn't get them when he was little they are concerned that he has a continuation of fluid going on behind his ear. So Ty is on antibiotics AGAIN and ear drops.
Next up were those pesky tonsils. Tyler doesn't get sick that often. So it was a little "shocking" that he needs his tonsils out. The tonsils at first glance look great till he saw that they sit down lower than "normal"and the bottom part of his tonsils are so big they almost touch. Which means that OUT they come.
For most ( me included) I thought ok lots of kids get their tonsils out. In a few days he will bounce back and be fine... Oh no. So apprently with kiddos "Like Tyler" we will have to be for 24-72 instead of the normal same day. Because we are cutting into his throat we are opening up a HUGE risk for a shunt infection. So prophalaxis antibiotics will be givn before and after. Chances of him landing BACK into PCMC for dehydration is more than 50 percent because he cognitevely does't understand bribery in orer to stay hydrated.
Last but not least, though we need them out in a bad way Tyler is at HUGE increase risk of any "elective" surgery being done during RSV and Hn1n we get to wait till it is over. He has like EVERY risk factor for bringing home more than he went in with .
So yes, Ty needs his tonsils out. No we won't be doing it soon. Yes we will have to stay over night. No I don't really want to. Hopefully it will answer and solve some of Tyler's intermost secrets.... WHY DOES he NOT sleep!?
4 comments:
Carver got his tonsils and adenoids taken out in July and it made a huge difference in his O2 sats at night. Now, the only time they go down is when he has sinus issues. We did have to spend 1 night in the hospital. Then he was released home. He has a g-tube, so we could keep him hydrated. It took a week to 10 days and then suddenly he was back to normal. You could look at my blog to see the timeframe - look for July-09 entries. Oh, they also told me that Carver,s was 50% central and 50% obstructive. It is a good idea to get both the tonsils and adenoids taken out. If not, it is possible that the adenoids and begin growing downward and causing the same issues. It's like they get more space to stretch out and they take advantage of the new space. Your doctor could talk more on the subject. Recovery from the tonsils is harder then adenoids. I guess the adenoids are a piece of cake. Of course, Carver is shuntless so I'm not sure about the difference. I'm glad we had Carver's removed - nights have been sooooo much better without all of the desats! Best Wishes - I, too would wait until summer if you can.
What ENT did you see? I have to take my little Josh down this friday to ENT. When he had his tubes put in almost two years ago now..it was a local doctor. But we have found that our local hospital is not a good place for Josh. We have decided to go to PCMC this time around for ENT. I always get nervous to see new doctors that I haven't heard anything about.
I hope that things will go well with the surgery for Tyler. It's amazing how even something more basic as a tonsilectomy can be hard on these kids with multliple needs. Keep us updated!
GOSH, your family can't catch a break!!!! POOR TY!!!! I hope he gets over his surgery better and faster then when you got yours out. Hopefully he will be able to slle much better. SLY!!!!
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