Updates

On the medical front, we will be spending our morning of the 18th of this month at Children's Hospital Peabody.  Our first appointment is for Eva Rose to evaluate the fluid in her ears.  She has had fluid in her ears for the last 3 months that hasn't changed, if anything, it's gotten worse.  Thankfully, we have not had any resulting ear infections.  I am almost hoping that the doctor recommends tubes because, all the feedback that I have gotten about tubes has been very positive.  I have heard so many people say that their child's speech has improved immensely after having tubes.  I don't know if it will be our case, but the fact that it has made a huge difference in everyone that I have talked to makes me feel really positive about the outcome. 

The next appointment is for Michael.  I have had some concerns about his breathing at night and I have inally done something about it.  For a little while, I thought that maybe I was hearing things, but now my mom and my husband have heard issues with Michaels's breathing.  So, I contacted his doctor and he was seen.  The doctor felt that it would be appropriate to have hime seen by an pediatric ENT. Given that he snores, he sleeps horrible and always has, is a mouth breather and breathes loudly, and I think may even have some issues with apnea, he is being evaluated for enlarged tonsils and adenoids.  The doctor that examined him did notice that, even though it was in the middle of a gag, there was a lot of soft tissue around his tonsils and uvula with little airway.  Michael was not cooperative with the exam at all.  Again, I am almost hoping that there is an issue that can be fixed with surgery.  I am hoping that for his sake and our family, that we can fix his sleep problem.  I'm sure that some of it is behavioral, but until I get him medically cleared, I do not feel comfortable with doing CIO or another form of sleep training.  If there is nothing wrong with his tonsils or adenoids, I will most likely ask for a sleep eval at Children's because Michael has not ever really slept through the night.  We have had short periods where he has, but it has never lasted more than at the most a week.  Also, if he has issues with his tonsils or adenoids and breathing, it may also contribute to his speech delay.

It is so amazing to me that 2 out of our 3 children may have an ENT issue.  I have really only ever had swimmer's ear when it comes to ear infections and ENT issues and I don't think my husband was ever really prone to ear infections or other ENT issues.  My dad did have major issues with his ears and 2 of my sisters have had tubes and one of them has had pretty severe ENT issues.  My niece has also had enlarged tonsils and adenoids and had them removed when she was 5.  I am just waiting for the shoe to drop and to find out that Thomas has some issue.  I really shouldn't complain.  These issues are not all that significant, although Michael's breathing could be.  I really don't have sick kids.  As horrible and scary as the RSV was, and I will probably always be traumatized from having my son rushed to Children's because he was declining so fast as well as watching my daughter on a vent for 6 days, we have been really lucky.  I wouldn't wish RSV on anyone especially when they are so  little, but I have, overall, really healthy kids.  I just want to get to the bottom of these issues and have them finalized and hope that after all is said and done, my kids speech will explode, Michael's sleep will improve as well as his overall breathing, and we will all be healthy again!

Amy