Mr. Borderline

Pip has so many strengths. His heart is huge. He loves others fiercely, cries when his friends cry and loves with every part of his being. He’s my thinker, always working on a problem or maze in his head. He’s my watcher, noticing needs before most.

He is also my Mr. Borderline…when it comes to his health. His growth slowed, he woke up tired, complained of severe stomach pains and more. But none of the symptoms were enough to give us a clear direction.

The past year has been a constant string of doctors and tests. First there was the worry that scar tissue had grown over his incision from pyloric stenosis. An endoscopy showed us a gorgeous scar with no blockage. Blood tests showed everything was fine with one odd liver result that righted itself. Heart checks showed a beautiful ticker. When you pull into Children’s and your six year old asks “what are they doing to me today?”… Your heart shatters into a million pieces.

I self referred us to the sleep clinic for a sleep test. With Pip waking up tired, snoring and even holding his breath at times.. This had to be it! Right? Something was off. Pip loved the sleep study and thought it was a ton of fun!

Imagine my surprise when I received a quick nurse call saying “Normal!” Now, my training as a Speech-Language Pathologist tells me that wasn’t possible. Perhaps he didn’t have apnea, but his sleep breathing isn’t normal! So, I again self referred myself. This time to the ENT department. That is when we started getting answers.

Our ENT looked at the sleep study results and confirmed my suspicions. While Pip didn’t have long enough “events” to qualify as apnea, his oxygen levels throughout the night looked like an epic Rollercoaster. He scoped Pip right there in the office and found his airway over 80% blocked by his adenoids. He immediately qualified for surgery. The ENT noted that Pip’s tonsils looked normal, but that he had concerns based on symptoms. I signed permission for the tonsils to be taken only if absolutely needed.

Last Thursday Pip and I went down to Children’s (about an hour away) to meet with one of their Child Life Specialists, Bree. Bree took Pip through what to expect on his surgery day – from where to sign in, a peek at his special “pajamas”, a tour of the surgery floor and even exploring the surgical suite.

He could touch anything he wanted, ask any questions, exploring a social story about surgery day and even try out the breathing masks. Pip loved it and Miss Bree promised to stop by and see him on surgery day so he’d have a familiar face.

Fast-forward to surgery day and Pip walked into the hospital with excitement and confidence. Among the many members of his team to visit, Miss Bree made sure to stop in and check that he was comfortable and ready. Would you believe Pip giggled himself to sleep inside his breathing mask?!

The surgery was incredibly quick and sure enough – his tonsils WERE hiding a secret. What we saw upon oral examination was only 10% of their actually size. 90% was hiding deep into his neck. The pressure was so significant that it was actually changing their shape. They had to go. While adenoids are a 2-3 day recovery, tonsils take us to at least 10 days. Oy!

Now, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. I was so nervous and teary handing my baby off. Then there was the wake up. We aren’t strangers to anesthesia with Pip’s previous tests and surgeries. However, they weren’t expecting Pip to wake up quite so quick – it was only 10 minutes from stopping the anesthesia to awake. He woke while they brought us back and I heard the scared pain cries from the hallway. I quickly scooped him into my arms and rocked him back to sleep. However, after the initial panic and pain, he was relaxed and asleep.

We took him home after a long time in recovery and are having a smooth healing process as we stay on top of the pain meds.

Thank you for all the prayers and please keep them coming!

♥ Tara