If only he knew…

I took Parker to the doctor last week for an all-over body rash and ended up with a referral to the speech therapist.  I decided to ignore the doctor’s recommendation, took him to an ENT today, and he said Parker’s tonsils and adenoids should be removed.  Yep, this sweet boy just doesn’t know what is coming…

So how do we get from a rash to minor surgery? Let me explain.  After checking his rash, the doctor gave him a general check-up.  In doing so, she noted his tonsils were enlarged and gave him a strep test.  I brought up that it seems I have frequently been told his tonsils are enlarged and we have been through far too many negative strep tests because of it.  Seriously, we’ve been hearing this for at least 1.5 years, though the doctors have never connected the dots to see the consistency.

She also noted that he speaks “nasally” and said that could be because of the enlarged tonsils.  I noted that he has to work hard to enunciate sometimes and she said that could also be because of the same.  I also brought up the fact that he drools a little bit more than he should, is a definite mouth breather and seems to have difficulty swallowing.  ALL could be attributed to the atypical tonsils.  He also snores a little, has possible episodes of sleep apnea and breathes loudly (through his mouth) all night long.  If I walk into Thomas’ room at night, I cannot hear him breathing.  On the other hand, I listen to Parker breathe on the monitor ALL NIGHT LONG.

Strangely, in the end, she directed that she thought he should see the speech therapist.  I thought it was odd, but went along initially.  Then the more I thought about it, it seemed odd to try to deal with the effects, without trying to correct the cause.  I spoke with a speech therapist friend and she said it is highly likely that the therapist would refer him to an ENT anyway.  So I made an appointment and today we went to meet him.

Along with the other symptoms mentioned above, the doctor and I also discussed his disrupted sleep.  When Parker was 18 months old, he got his first ear infection, and then he had five in a row.  That was two winters ago.  This winter he only had two.   Prior to his first ear infection, he easily slept 12 straight hours a night.  Since then, he wakes 1-3 times a night, on average.  I am up with him 1-3 times a night.  It’s not fun for anyone.  I never really thought of it as the sign of a problem, it seemed to be a mere inconvenience and I kept thinking he’d outgrow it eventually.

The doctor had strong suspicions Parker’s tonsils and adenoids are enlarged before he even got to look.  When he looked, his suspicions were confirmed.  He said they measure the tonsils on a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 meaning the tonsils are so enlarged they are touching and blocking the airway.  He said, “Parker is almost a four.”  Yikes.   Want to see for yourself?

Now for a closer look…

Here’s maybe a better picture…

An extreme close-up…

So anyway, the doctor has made his recommendation, we have tentatively scheduled the (outpatient) surgery for August 5 and now we have to pour over our options and make sure this is what we want to do…and what we want to do now.  The doctor said there is no rush necessarily, but I’d rather have it done before school starts, and I’d rather have it corrected before it affects his speech any further.  Recovery is expected to take 7-10 LONG days.  So please pray with us that we can make the best decision for Parker, and that if we do go through with the surgery, he can recover easily and quickly!

I just don’t want to lose this smile for too long!

Oh, and they think the rash is just eczema and like Thomas when he was Parker’s age, it is worse in the heat of the summer.  So yeah, that’s how we went from a rash to a tonsilectomy in record time.