Robotica

For as long as I can remember (except for 2 and 3 years old when he had a toddler bed) Tony has never had a problem going to sleep.  And when he falls asleep, he sleeps HARD.  LOUD snoring, teeth grinding, doesn't know when we wake him up if he falls asleep on the couch, even argued with us a few times about moving him but he is totally asleep.  Deep, DEEP sleeper.  He also can not breathe through his nose - even when he is not congested.  Poor kid smacks everytime he eats.  But if you ask him to close his mouth, he seriously can not breathe through his nose.  As a baby he had numerous ear infections, but never had tubes.  He still gets ear infections - more than his 3 year old sister.  This past April/May we had to see Dr. B 4 times - each with a sinus infection and ear infections.  After some other discussions, Dr. B asked that I complete a survey.  Basically the results showed that he had a high need to be seen and evaluated by an ENT.  We were referred and completed our first visit with him at the end of June.  It was a very extensive hour and half, but in the end we had appointments scheduled for a sleep study, allergy test, audiogram, and a follow up with Dr. Pine, the amazing ENT.  I was so impressed at the depth of the details he asked - all 8 years of history.  To say the least, it was exhausting for me.  Thankfully Jordonna and Tony were entertained by a video on the TV in the exam room they put on for them.  So far, we have done the sleep study.  Tony was so excited because:
1. It was in Galveston and I promised an early morning walk on the beach after the sleep study and
2. He was promised McD's sausage biscuits - yes 2 of them and
3. It was in a hospital.

I wore him out before arriving at the hospital.  He went for a swim in the river at Nonnie's and then we went into town and swam at Mrs. Mary's.  I was shocked that he did not fall asleep on the hour drive to Galveston.

I tried to explain to him all the wires they would have to attach to him.  We were the last to arrive for the night so he kept peeking out his room and saw how everyone else was getting hooked up.  This was at 11pm - he was so sleepy!

As soon as they were done, he stood up and said he was a robot.  Here he is showing his best robot moves - HA! Crazy kid!

The nurse did some diagnostic exercises with Tony to be sure everything was connected and getting a good reading.  The nurse said "Alright, lights out! Good night!"  I went into the bathroom, came out and already heard snoring.  The nurse and I laughed about it the next morning - he had never had anyone fall asleep that quickly.  Tony also woke up during the night to go to the restroom.  He spoke to me and sat up.  The nurse came in to help get him unhooked.  I walked him into the bathroom and the nurse mentioned to me that Tony had yet to open his eyes - not a doctor but in his experience would say he never woke up.  Proof at how deep he sleeps.  I'm very interested in the results we see from the sleep study. 

Next week is the allergy test and then we follow up with Dr. Pine.  The main reason for all the tests is that Dr. Pine won't do surgery without data to prove it is needed, but he anticipates that Tony's adenoids and tonsils will have to come out.  During the exam, he mentioned that 90% of his nasal passage was blocked. As much as we would like to avoid surgery, it doesn't look promising.

Update to come...