Oliver's ENT Appointment

We took Oliver to the ENT 2 weeks ago.  (Yes, I'm just behind on blogging!)

I got there, explained that he had a hoarse/raspy voice and said that he had troubles breastfeeding.  The doctor used a small scope thing that went down his nose to look and see if she could see anything.  I felt so bad for Ollie because he haaaaated it.  I mean who likes tubes down their noses??  She looked around and saw that his vocal cords were red and swollen and she thought it might look more swollen past the vocal cords as well, but she couldn't stick the camera thingey down any further without blocking his airway.

After she was done, she wanted to get an x-ray to check and see if that would show "something" in his throat.  This was not fun for him either. It only took a couple minutes for them to get back to us, and the x-ray showed that there was something there.  The doctor could only speculate what it might be, but she said she was "uncomfortable" not investigating any further because it could be something severe.  But, it could also just be caused by acid reflux which he had not previously been diagnosed with.

At the end of the appointment, she said that Oliver needed a bronchial scope and that he would also get his tongue tie clipped when he was under general anesthesia.  General anesthesia? What? My baby boy?? No way!!  I was absolutely terrified!! I did not want to see my baby boy in pain.  She also said that if they had to do surgery we would have to stay overnight! Surgery!??!!?? I was freaked out for sure!!  She told me that she would like to do this in the next couple of weeks to check things out.  I explained to her that when Brian was working, I was the only one to be there for the rest of the kids.  We don't have any family that lives nearby and all of our friends have jobs.  My mom just happened to be visiting from Minnesota, so I asked her if we could get it done that very same week so that someone could watch the kids if for some reason I had to stay overnight with Oliver.  She said okay and that a scheduler would call me that day.

Before I even got home, someone called me.   They said that the procedure was scheduled for the very next day.  I was really not at all prepared for that and felt completely overwhelmed with the whole situation.  I had no idea what was wrong with my baby boy!  The scheduler gave me all of the instructions for "surgery."  Oliver was not to have any formula 6 hours before, breastmilk 4 hours before and water/pedialite 3 hours before.  I fed him up to the very last minute possible because its pretty impossible to explain to a 5.5 month old that his mommy couldn't feed him and he was hungry.

The day of the procedure I tried to hold it together.  I had no idea really of what to expect, how long it was going to take, all of that.  I packed a bag for both of us and brought my breast pump just in case we ended up staying the night.  We had to check in 2 hours before the appointment.  Brian was at work and met us there while we were in the "pre-surgery" or whatever you call it.  We spoke with about 93 different nurses that asked us the same questions... "When did he eat?" "What procedure are you here for?" things like that.

About an hour before he went in, I could tell he was hungry because he wouldn't stop crying.  Brian turned on some music on his phone and it instantly calmed him down.  This boy looooves his music!  He fell asleep for a while which was nice, because I couldn't feed him!!

They took him back to give him some gas before they put in his IV.  They said it would be about 40 minutes.  Brian and I went out to the waiting room... I pumped and Brian went to go get some food.  By the time we were done with all of that, he was done!  Thank goodness it didn't take long.  And there was no surgery required.  The doctor talked to Brian and said the swelling and redness were due to the acid reflux.  There was also some "cobble-stoning" in his throat.  (I forgot what that meant.)

We went back to the recovery area and he was so sleepy.  I got to hold my baby boy with all of monitors and IV lines still attached.  He drank some pedialite first to make sure that he could tolerate fluids and then I gave him some breastmilk. He was obviously starving because over the course of an hour or so he drank about 13 ounces!  I'm glad I had breastmilk there for him, because he couldn't have formula right away... upsets the tummy more easily I suppose.

We stayed in recovery for about an hour and then got to go home.  It was such an emotional day and while I'm not happy he had to go through that, I'm glad that it turned out to be nothing and some acid reflux medicine should help him feel better and not have such a hoarse voice.

Here I am in recovery with Oliver.