Surgery is scheduled

I think I have spread the word about this to most people already, but in the interest of keeping up with my record keeping, here is the latest:

One week ago, John and I picked the kids up at school a touch early and we headed to Children's Hospital for Cortlan's follow-up appointment/surgical consult. We had never been there before (fortunately, we have had no need before now), but we had heard that it was pretty fantastic.  The rumors were, for the most part, true.  The check in process was very efficient.  They gave us a buzzer (like you sometimes get at restaurants) so that they could easily notify us when it was our turn to head back to see the doctor.  This was necessary because the waiting room was huge.  There were aquariums, televisions, different stations set up with electronic games and coloring, and there was even a section of docked and secure ipads with apps for the kids to play.  All of this was great - because as we were the last appointment of the day, we ended up waiting for quite a while.

Once were finally called back to see the doctor, we had even more wait time.  Fortunately, my kids like to draw and color, and I had paper and crayons with me.  They drew pictures, we sang songs, and we all started to go a little stir-crazy.  A physicians assistant came in for a check, and then finally we saw the doctor.

The doctor explained to us that Cortlan's sleep study was abnormal.  Specifically, he had an average of 2.7 "episodes" of sleep apnea per hour, which, as far as I can tell, means that his breathing stopped or drastically reduced for some amount of time each episode.  At times, his blood oxygen levels decreased to 86%, when it should be 97-98% for a child his age, as explained to us.  Despite the fact that it initially seems a little scary to think that he is essentially stopping breathing nearly three times per hour, this all puts him in the category of "mild" sleep apnea.  When compared to having episodes every couple of minutes, as some people do, 2.7 per hour does seem mild.  Still, it is more than enough to be considered a problem that needs to be taken care of.

Cortlan will be having surgery on April 23rd.  At that time, he will have both his tonsils and adenoids removed, as well as several other procedures, including a "soft" scope through his nose, a "hard" scope through his mouth that goes deeper and is more investigative than the ones he had in December, and a biopsy.  These things will be done to farther examine the causes of the apnea as well as the narrowing of his trachea that was discovered in December.  He will have the surgery done at Children's Hospital (as opposed to the surgery center) and will stay overnight for observation due to the slightly higher risk of his case.

I know that some of this sounds disconcerting at first, but we are very hopeful and optimistic about the outcome.  We aren't blowing this off, but we also are not making a big deal of it, either.  In fact, one of Cortlan's friends from school is having nearly the same procedure done one week after him - he had the same sleep study done with 2.9 episodes per hour.  The most frustrating part of it all has been the timeline and that we aren't done with this all yet.  But, two months will go quickly, and we are looking forward to having it behind us and for Cortlan to get some much needed relief.

Random Stuff

• It kind of stinks when you come to find that the people who you thought were older than you are actually the same age as you...and that you probably look "that old," too.  I suppose what is more important is how old I am on the inside, right?
• I had to take Everly to the doctor's office this morning.  Turns out that there is nothing wrong, but she was devastated when she found out that she couldn't get a shot...To the point that the doctor asked if she had her flu shot yet, in hopes that we could find some shot to give her. 
• Cortlan's sleep study came back abnormal.  We meet with the surgeon who recommended the study on Monday to go over it, but the preliminary results that I have received indicate sleep apnea and the surgery that he went in for in December is once again recommended.  We will know more on Monday.
• I am forced to wonder if there are any jobs that are low-stress these days.  I can tell you that teaching sure isn't one of them.
• Cortlan has been learning how to spell many words.  The latest:  b-u-t-t.  The funny thing is the look he got on his face the first time he spelled it for me, and that he has only spelled it and hasn't actually said it.  It could be worse.
• There is something about February that makes it seem like the longest month of the year.  And there is something about it that makes me yearn for the beach.  
• I am a big fan of dance parties in the kitchen while I am cooking.  And my kids laughing.

Cortlan's Sleep Study

Last night was Cortlan's sleep study.  When the second attempt at getting his tonsils out was cancelled, we were told to get a second opinion, which we did in December.  That doctor requested that we have a sleep study done to gather some more data that will ultimately help us determine the best course of action regarding his exceptionally large tonsils and exceptionally small trachea.

Cortlan was his typical self and, despite a little apprehension, focused his attention on the Ice Age movie that we were watching while the technician covered him with wires and sensors from head to toe.  They were collecting data for everything related to his sleep, from the motion of his legs to the amount of oxygen in his blood, as well as whatever they were able to collect from all of the wires glued to his head.  They had microphones and video cameras recording the night's events, as well.

The connection of the wires took quite a while:

They started with sensors on his legs, stomach, and chest.  Cortlan was enraptured by Ice Age.

Then they moved to his head, where they attached the sensors with horrible smelling glue.

They used compressed air to dry the glue.

Good thing it was a good movie.

I am pretty sure the thing in his nose measured carbon dioxide from his nose and mouth.  I was beside Cort in bed, watching the movie, the whole time he was getting all of these wires.  I wish I wasn't in this picture, though!

What wires?

Shortly after that last picture was taken, it was time for lights out.  I said my goodnights and goodbyes and was on my way.  John stayed the night with Cortlan:

Doesn't he look comfortable?

John said that Cortlan was asleep not long after I left and that he slept the entire night.  He moved around in his sleep so much that the technician had to come in and untangle him a few times.  The guy unhooked the wires from the monitors, untwisted them from around Cortlan, and then plugged them back in so quickly that Cort never woke up.

We will have a follow-up appointment in a couple of weeks to discuss the results and what happens next.  I will be sure to keep you posted. :)