Surgery #9

Mommy and I went to see Dr. Cotter today about my sleep study results. Turns out I stopped breathing 12 times during the night. Bad, but not super bad. Here is what made my sleep apnea severe: I had 330 episodes of obstructive hypopnea. That means I was breathing, but the airflow was restricted to less than 50%. I was only asleep for 345 minutes, so I basically had restricted airflow the entire night. To determine the severity of my sleep apnea, the doctor puts these numbers into a formula and gets a new number to compare to a range. Normal should be a number of 1 or less. Then there are different ranges until you get to 20. Anything above 20 is considered severely abnormal. My number.....was 60.

The doctor wants me to be on oxygen until my surgery because I spent 30% of my sleeping time with an oxygen saturation level below 90%, and it really should be above 92%. I will be having surgery November 5th to remove my adenoids and "shave" down my tonsils. There is a risk my tonsil tissue could grow back eventually, but removing them root and all poses a higher risk of infection and bleeding. Mommy asked Dr. Cotter to replace my ear tubes even though they are still in tact, because they are due to fall out anytime now. She is going to put some bigger ones in that should last for about a year, instead of 4 or 5 months. Also, while I'm sedated, she is going to put a camera in my nose and down my throat to take pictures of my airway to see if there is anything else that might be contributing to the breathing problems. The whole surgery should take about 2 hours.

Afterwards, I am going to stay the night (hopefully just one) in the hospital. There is a chance I will be in the ICU since my apnea is so severe, but Mommy made sure she could still stay with me. Dr. Cotter said the remodeled ICU is like a hotel suite, and that we might never want to leave. Mommy politely said she doubts that. :o) Dr. Cotter was brutally honest about how I will feel after surgery, but that's what Mommy asked for. She said the pain will be "massive, severe" and that I will be very unhappy for quite a while. The pain is usually the worst between days 3 and 7. Fortunately (?), I have a g-tube, so Mommy won't have to worry about me being readmitted to the hospital if I refuse to eat or drink like some kids do. Also, staying in the hospital means I might get some better pain medication than just plain old Tylenol or Motrin.

After surgery, I will be on bed rest for one week, then no heavy physical activity for another week after that. Hopefully, I will be in good shape for my Wiggly concert on November 16th. I will also have a repeat sleep study sometime after Christmas. Mommy is sad and worried about this surgery, and she cried most of the way home today. But she knows it is for the best, and it could make me much healthier and happier.

Mommy, Daddy, Papa, and Aunt Tracie are all very upset that my old ENT, Dr. Moser, didn't take care of me properly. Mommy asked Dr. Cotter why she thought he never sent us for a sleep study in all the years he was my doctor. She smiled sadly at Mommy, shrugged her shoulders, and said quietly, "You weren't going to the right ENT." We second that one.