Sleep?!?!?

Oh, how describe the past weeek? I am really not sure. We have had our ups and downs. On Friday, May 22nd, Nathan had his first (and hopefully last) surgery.



We have spent much of the last 4 years getting the boy to sleep at night. We had created some bad habits (OOPS!) and had taken all the steps to rectify them. Nathan was going to bed by himself, following a great routine, and still getting up between 2 and 6 times a night. Greg and I were at a loss (of sleep and sanity), so we hauled him into his pediatrician (Dr. Cox is awesome) and started what would be a unique adventure. I am sure by now it is pretty darn clear that NOTHING with Nathan is ever quick or simple. Dr. Cox was really not sure what to do with his not sleeping. He had no clear or obvious medical causes, so the good Dr. recommended we see a sleep specailist and see what she had to say, so off we headed to Dr. Pfeffer. She rocks too. She listened very closely to what we had to say. Was a bit perplexed. How ca a child go to sleep so well and easily and be up anywhere from 2-5 hours later and not want anything but to be tucked in again. Greg and I felt there was something wrong with his sleep patterns, Dr. Pfeffer, was unsure and thought perhaps it could be a behavioral issue, but was not really sure about that. So she suggested a sleep study. Wholly Crap was that a process for a 4 year old. If I ever manage to get the pics off my cell phone I will post them, but needless to say he was hooked up to about 20 leds, 2 nasal canals, and chest and belly pressure bands. Plus he did not get to bed until at least an hour after bedtime, and we were in a strange place. When he finally did go to sleep, it seemed ok. He never got out of bed.....I am not sure he could have had he wanted to anyway. And a few short hours later they woke us, unhooked Nate and sent us on our way. Shortly after that we saw our pediatrician in a non-office setting and asked if he has seen or heard anything from the sleep dr. He said he had and since we would be in on Tuesday with Alex he would review it and talk to us about it then. Turns out that we got the results in the mail the very next day and talk about shocked. Turns out Greg and I have a 4 year old with sleep apnea! WHAT THE *&^%! How is that possible? Turns out that even though his tonsils and adnoids were not really large, they were causing a blockage in his breathing process, especially when he slept. So we had an appt with the sleep specailist to follow up with the sleep study and I thought she was going to jump out of her chair she was so excited to see the results. It was more than clear that Nate was have some major sleep issues and that they were medically caused. Nathan sleeps really well for the first 2 to 4-ish hours and then all hell brakes loose. His REM cycles are directly realated to his bretahing diffcilties. His legs twitch, and he really labors to breathe. Even though I was expecting a result like that when I saw on paper how bad it was, I about laughed and cried. He had something like 115 wakening episodes and of those 105 were realated to apnea with something like 90 of them directly realated to difficulty getting oxygen. I was astounded. As were both Greg and the doctor. The doctor really thought that we were probably having more behavorial problems with little intrinsic (medical) factors. And she was the first to say she was soooo wrong. But she was so excited at being able to help him. It was so nice to have her be so supportive and so willing to admit that her first impression was so wrong. So we got Nathan an appointment with the ENT and as it turned out we were able to schedule his surgery to remove his tonsil and adnoids the friday right after school ended. Greg and I tried to be really honest with him about the whole thing and answered any questions he had. Like, no they do not "pop" your head off to get your tonsils out. They put you to sleep and take them out thru your mouth. But by far one of the very best things we did was to take him up to the pre-surgery class at PCMC. Nathan is a very logical and tactile child. He loved the class, which walked him through the whole process as best as possible and he was very calm about the whole process. When we were getting him check in and changed into his "hospital pajamas" they asked if he needed the versed to calm him before surgery. So I looked at him and asked him if he wanted the medicine that made him really calm and sleepy . He looked me square in the face and said no, he wanted to go to the game and toy room and play video games. I said no he did not need the medicine, but could I maybe have a dose, to which the nurse got a good laugh. I was really not sure about how I was feeling about putting my little guy "under the knife". So the short verison is, all went well. Our ENT, Dr. Child, said it went greatand in less than a hour we were back by Nathan's bedside watching him in his groggy little haze. He woke up pretty well, but had to stay for a 4 hour observation. Nathan's nurse in the PACU was so great. Her name was Jane, and she was soo sweet to him and us. She brought him root beer slushees, and apple juice and sprite and jello and mac and cheese. Nathan was awake at first, but after drinking some slushee and some popsicle, the vast amount of sugar was too much for him and within 10 minutes of wanting it he was sick to his stomach. Luckily Dr. Child had prescribed some medicine for him, and soon he was not only was the nausea gone, but Nathan had drifted off to sleep for a long nap. During this time I ran over to the U, where my sister-in-law and nephews were, an checked in on them. When I got back Nathan was snoozing, and Greg was reading his book. It took surgery, but I finally managed to finish the book I have been reading for months. Sadly, I finished it in hour number 2 and then was left with some time to burn. We got to the hospital at 11:45 and we left at 7pm. It was a long day for all, and Nate, bless his heart, as we are strapping him in to the car, says "wait. we have to go see Aunt Keanne." We chuckeled at him and said no, he needed to go home and that Aunt Keanne would be okay without a visit from us. So now we are on the road to recovery. I have a feeling it will be a long road.