Surgery, AFOs and Spring Time

Wouldn't you know I'm behind again. I should've posted last week but stayed pretty busy taking care of James.
Two weeks ago James went to the pediatrician for his Pre-Op visit. He got the all clear! We did find that he gained 2 more lbs putting him at 29 lbs! We haven't been too concerned about his weight lately. I took a peek at my own baby book recently and found that I only weighed 27 lbs when I turned 4. To me that puts James a reasonable weight for his age. I do understand that he burns calories like crazy, but as long as he isn't losing weight or showing signs of malnutrition I'm not worried.

After the pediatrician we headed to Dr. Goldstein's office. She's James' physicatrist-physical rehab doctor. I scheduled an apointment with her because James had been getting some pretty bad bruising on his legs from his AFOs. She agreed that they defiately were too small and he shouldn't wear them at all anymore. Of course it takes a couple weeks to get into the orthotist so he's been without AFOs for awhile now. Wednesday of this week we'll head to Healthcare Accessories before therapy to get molds made of his legs. She had a pretty lengthy conversation with the orthotist about what kind of AFO would be best for him-give his the best support but not be harmful and still give him some control. He was going to have to have a couple of conversation with some fellow colleagues and so I guess we'll see what's best for him when we get the new AFOs. The fun part about new AFOs is getting to pick a new pattern! I think this time mom will narrow it down to 2 and let James practice his eye gaze choosing to pick what he wants!

Last week on Tuesday James had surgery to remove his adenoids and put tubes in his ears. We've been waiting for this surgery to hopefully help with James' sleep apnea. He sweats super bad in his sleep-which is one of the symptoms, and he doesn't sleep well so we were hoping this would be our answer. Surgery went very well. James did pretty good after surgery and came home the same day. He was sore the first couple of days but since then he's been great! He's still snoring but now it sounds more like a normal person snoring and less like he's not breathing! Hopefully the snoring goes away completely. They warned us that he may snore for a couple weeks while all the swelling goes down. We've also noticed his reflux symptoms have lessoned since the surgery. They are still there but nonetheless way better. Now it's only occassional instead of every morning. We did take James out of school for the rest of the week to recover and going back today was a little tough for him but I'm sure he was glad to see his teacher and friends again.

We've been loving the nice weather and going for walks with the boys, going to the park and of course blowing bubbles!

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

In the past we've had this problem with James and of course it has resurfaced. Way back in fall of 2010 we noticed that James was snoring and skipping some breaths while sleeping. We went to see the pediatrician and she referred us to neurology to have a sleep study done to determine if James had obstructive sleep apnea. Before that could happen poor little James ended up in the ER for breathing difficulties. Later that night it got so bad James had to be intubated. It was determined that he would need his tonsils and adenoids out. They knew that wasn't the whole problem but they did know that it was part of the problem and if he did have obstructive sleep apnea he'd probably have to have them removed in the future. So they did a tonsilectomy and partial adenoidectomy. We were told that if a total adenoidectomy was done it could interfere with how James eats and we didn't want to mess with it.

So now here we are and James' snoring has come back full force and he's skipping breaths while sleeping etc. Last week we saw ENT here in Fargo to be evaluated for it. While we were there he was noted to have fluid on his ears and he needs tubes put in. While he's under anesthesia they'll also take a look at his adenoids. Some of the tissue may have grown back and that's why he's snoring again. If need be they'll also do an adenoidectomy that day. We are scheduled for surgery on February 21st. Hope all goes well. As usual I'm more worried about James after the anesthesia. That seems to be the worst part for him because of his asthma. It is planned for an outpatient procedure but is obviously dependent on how James wakes up.