Results!

I know you have been struggling to be patient, just like we have, but we found out the results of Justin's two tests from the beginning of the month:

The thyroid scan came back negative. That means there were no nodules and the thyroid is in the correct location. That is good, but it still doesn't explain the rising TSH levels. So we are just waiting until our next appointment in December and then we will repeat the labs and make a decision after that. There are no other guesses or indications to explain the rise, so we are left to wait.

And the sleep study! The indications show mild sleep apnea. I really had no idea that there were so many levels of "arousals" and what they mean are all different. Justin slept nine hours during the study - good! - and he had 124 episodes of "arousals" which interrupted his sleep, but only about one third of them were caused by breathing problems. So there were about 40 incidents in which he had interruptions in breathing. What follows is a VERY simplified and non-technical explanation. Do not use what I am about to write for diagnostic purposes! Just kidding! OK, there is a range in this, so stick with me: first there is just plain snoring, of which he does a lot! It's loud, but there is no interruption in breathing (oxygen saturation) so that's fine. Next comes a "RERA", which stands for "respiratory effort related arousal" which are not associated with clear-cut apnea. They are kind of extreme efforts at breathing that don't actually hinder breathing. Next comes semi-apnea, which is a slowing of breathing of about 50%. Not complete stopping, which is full apnea, but partial. The last is of course, apnea, which is complete stopping of breathing for at least 10 seconds. They number each type of "event" and then figure how many occurred per hour of sleep to determine how severe is the apnea. Justin had 40 events, but they were all mostly RERAs with about a third of them being semi-apnea. So Justin never stops breathing completely, which leads to the diagnosis of "mild" sleep apnea. The other two thirds of the "arousals" don't fall into the field of expertise of an ENT so if we want further explanation we need to go to the Sleep Clinic. They treat other sleep problems. We did have an x-ray of Justin's adenoids to determine if they are a factor, which we were able to rule out. It is probably his facial structure, but we need, here it comes, to monitor the situation because it could get worse, which would lead to problems with concentration and attention. More monitoring!

So, to sum it up: we didn't get any clear-cut answers, but at least we were able to rule out some things. And in the past week we had another hearing test, which Justin passed with flying colors. I was hoping to get that annual test eliminated since he is really doing well and I think we can tell now if he is having hearing problems. But the doctor shut me down and said I really need to keep going a few more years just to be preventative since hearing is linked to speech.

Thank you for your prayers and all your concern!