A Double ENT Whammy

We went to the ENT this morning and we walked out with 2 prescriptions: one for a sleep study (for Justin) and one for a tonsillectomy (for Travis). So it was a successful appointment, but not all what we expected.

Travis got to go first, even though he always wants Justin to go first when it's something he doesn't want to do. Just by hearing his problems, she knew that he has sleep apnea and it would be best to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. A sleep study isn't the best first step because we know he has apnea and the study would just report mild, moderate, or severe apnea, and the treatment would be removal for the tonsils and adenoids. If after the surgery he still has problems, then we would go to a sleep study. There is one quirky anatomical contributing factor to the equation which is his severe overbite. Because his lower jaw is so pushed back, it causes the tongue to be further back, blocking his airway when he sleeps. There is nothing (especially now while he is still growing) that can be done for the jaw, but we can do something about the tonsils, so that is what the ENT recommended. We don't know which one is more of the problem, and we can't know until one of the problems is eliminated. I didn't ask reasons not to do the surgery, or if it's worth doing the sleep study to determine the level of apnea to know if it's okay to wait. I know I have complained about Travis' sleep since he was born, so I am inclined to go ahead with the surgery, but I know I can't change my mind later so I want to be really sure it's the best option for us.

And the ENT did assuage my concerns about Justin's sleep. There is nothing glaring that I am missing, but she said that it sounds like his sleep cycles are "messed up" - technical term, I know! There's no way to tell why or even what is really happening while he sleeps except for with a sleep study. We are waiting for a call for that to be scheduled, but probably not for 4-6 months. In the meantime we will have our next audiology appointment (in September) for Justin's hearing and if that detects any fluid in his ears she would recommend tubes in his ears. She said that fluid build-up could cause his sleep to be disturbed. We can talk about that after the test. We should still have time to do all that and see how it affects him before our time would come to have the sleep study.

So at least we are making progress in solving some of our problems. I felt that she listened to me and wanted to find some answers rather than simply dismissing me. It helped having a fellow mom of a child with sleep problems as our ENT! So now we have more information and decisions to make. Please pray for wisdom and good judgement as we make these decisions. Thank you!