A few months ago, Terry was in priesthood meeting and overheard Logan and his primary teacher out in the hall. After listening to the conversation, he gathered that Logan had made a big mess with the soap in the boys bathroom. His teacher was taking him to tell the bishop what he had done ( in hopes that he would not do it again). As they were walking toward the bishops office he heard Logan say "Will the bishop take me to jail?"
I thought it was pretty funny. I think he was really worried about that :)
Last week Landon had his tonsils & adenoids taken out. He also had tubes put in both ears. He has had sleep apnea since he was a baby and really struggled to breathe at night. I took him to an
ENT Doctor when he was 6 months old, he scoped Landon's adenoids and told me they were really large, but because of his age at the time he did not feel comfortable taking them out. Last year in school he failed his hearing screen and I took him in to the Doctor to have it checked, but their equipment was needing to be serviced so I was told to come back. The summer rolled around and we were gone a lot, so needless to say I never got around to taking him back in once the equipment was fixed.
At the beginning of this school year, they did another hearing screen and he failed that one too.
So when I called the Doctor he recommended that we just have a full hearing screen done.
I took him to see an audiologist and they checked his hearing thoroughly, they told me he can hear fine, but that the problem was the fluid build up in his ears. I was also scheduled to see an Ears Nose Throat the same day. He was a real
disapointment, because after giving him Landon's history he checked Landon's throat and told me that his tonsils were a little large, but that he didn't recommend having them out right now. This Doctor was in the room for less than 5 minutes and charged me over $100.00 for the visit.
I was really angry, because I felt like he was not even listening to our concern with the apnea and fluid in the ear problem, all he cared about was getting in and out so he could make his money. I felt robbed, because my husband works really hard for that amount of money and now I will be making payments for the next few months on something I feel this Doctor did not deserve.
I decided I would not worry about the issue, since the Doctor really didn't seem to concerned.
A few weeks later, we stayed at my in laws house for Thanksgiving. Landon was sleeping on a air mattress in the family room. Everyone was commenting on his horrible breathing and snoring while he was a sleep. At this point I began wondering if I should get a second opinion.
During the next week while volunteering in Landon's class, his teacher pulled me aside to ask about the findings of his hearing exam. I told her that they thought his hearing was fine, but that he had fluid in his ears. She told me that Landon could be right next to her and she would say something to him and he would act like he did not hear her.
I decided to call Landon's Doctor and ask him what the next step is for taking care of the fluid in his ears. He looked at the
ENT report and said that he had noted on the report that Landon's tonsils were 3+ he said that with his apnea and hearing problems, I should get a second opinion because he felt something should be done.
He scheduled me with Dr.
Schueller at
MckayDee hospital.
When we went to this appointment, it was a totally different experience from the other
ENT.
He had a PA come in to examine Landon first. The first thing he noticed was how congested he sounded and how he was breathing out of his mouth. I told him the history- he looked at Landon's tonsils and said that they were a 3+ so very large. He told me that with the apnea they like to listen to the parents, because they are the ones who see the child sleep. He did a test with a tuning fork, where he placed it ringing on a bone behind Landon's ear and then he put it right in front of his ear and asked which place he could hear the tone better. Landon told him that he could hear it louder on the bone- he should be able to hear it louder in front of the ear. The PA said that this indicated fluid in the ear.
He requested the hearing screen and was amazed that the other
ENT was not concerned because it was a completely flat curve, which meant his ear drum was not moving at all.
So the Doctor came in after reviewing the findings of the PA and did a few more exams himself.
He told me that there were several really good reasons why the surgeries needed to be done and he was convinced that it would help a whole lot.
After the Doctor did the surgery, he told Terry and I that he was amazed at how much fluid drained from
Landons ears, he said it was a lot. He also told us that he could tell that Landon had large adenoids by the way he talked, but after seeing the size of them realized that he had been 100%
obstructed by them.
Landon is 1 week post surgery and is doing great!!! Right after surgery he told me how loud I sounded :) His sleep apnea is gone. I have to really watch him breath when I check on him at night, because he is so quiet now. Before you could hear him 3 rooms away.
I think this was a long needed good choice. It gives me peace of mind that he can breath at night.
Other than that, we are doing great! We had a good holiday season but I am ready to have a normal schedule back.
I am really looking forward to the new year and hope that I can accomplish some of the goals I have set.
I like the quote out of a fortune cookie I got recently which says " A goal is a dream with a deadline."
Hopefully I will meet my deadlines.
