ENT appointment

As of last night I was NOT going to this appointment.  I didn’t think Camden needed it.  It would just be another expense for us.  That  is until I was climbing into bed and mentioned it to my husband.  He firmly said, “No, if you have an appointment, you’re going.  We’re trying to do everything we can to get that little boy better and if that includes an ENT, then you’re going.”  I was shocked!  I mean, this is my husband, right?  The anti-doctor guy? 

So I woke up this morning and proceeded like I was going back to Children’s.   I had the attitude that I wasn’t going to learn anything new, it was going to be a waste of time, but at least we’d know there was nothing else wrong there. 

Boy, was I wrong!  Before I explain, I must say that I LOVED this doctor.  If anyone needs a good ENT doctor, I have one to recommend!  Compassionate, understanding, patient.  Just wonderful.

When he walked in and asked me what was going on, my response was, “Ah, my doctor referred me to you  because he has bad reflux and just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”  That’s it.  I didn’t offer anything more.  I had done this in the past and it didn’t really seem to get the doctor too concerned.  So he started asking me questions.  He was very concerned about his eating (or lack thereof) and really wanted to come up with ways to help (even though this wasn’t his specialty). 

So we went through that and then his history.  The doctor looked in his ears and announced that Camden had a terrible ear infection in one ear and lots of fluid build up in the other.  WHAT????  You can imagine my shock.   He prescribed another antibiotic for that (to which I am so unthrilled……he’s still fighting off the yeast buildup from the last antiobiotic).

Then he said he wanted to do a laryngoscopy and look at Camden’s upper airways to make sure everything’s okay.  This is where they stick an endoscope (a tube with a camera) down his nose through to his throat.   It allows him to look for any problems in the upper airway.  It’s clearer than an upper GI because of the camera.  They also record it to look back on later and hook up a microphone to check his breathing during the test.  Everyone has to be very quiet during the test. 

They sprayed some  medicine up Camden’s nose to numb the lining of the nose.  The whole procedure took less than five minutes, but it was a long five minutes.  Camden screamed and I couldn’t say anything to console him. 

Everything looked fine except for some swelling.  The swelling tells us that the Prevacid is not doing all of its job.  Or not working 100% the way it should. 

A myringotomy and tube insertion was highly recommended for Camden.  This is Camden’s fourth ear infection in four months.  Plus, he has lots of fluid build up.  This may cause some hearing loss.  A myringotomy is a surgical procedure.  It is often done when a child keeps having ear infections or fluid behind the eardrum.  Camden is a good candidate for this also because of his eating problems.  He said a lot of times kids won’t eat because of their ear pain.  It hurts to chew or swallow.  Therefore, they refuse it.  He’s seen many kids benefit after tubes were inserted.  Reflux babies are also predisposed to get repeated ear infections.

So we are scheduling the surgery.  I talked it over with Josh and he agreed that we should go forward.  I know it will only benefit Camden, but the thought of my little baby going under for surgery makes me a nervous wreck.   We were given all the surgery papers, procedures and also some ear plugs and ear band to wear while swimming, bathing, etc.  As soon as the scheduling nurse  calls to schedule the date, I will let you know. 

I’m so thankful we’re getting answers.  It’s not fun or easy but we’re getting answers.  I hate seeing him go through things like a tube being inserted in his nose or a needle being stuck in his arm, but I know it’s getting us on the right path because I hate seeing him suffer. 

Keep praying!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention this part! The doctor also ordered a feeding evaluation done by a speech pathologist and possibly followed up by a video swallow study. This is at the feeding clinic at Children's. I just got off the phone with the lady from there. We set up the feeding evaluation for Monday, June 8th. I must bring Camden there hungry and they will basically watch/observe him eating. I also mentioned that Birth to Three will be coming out this Wednesday to evaluate him for physical therapy and feeding therapy. She wants a release of those records so they can coordinate and talk about Camden. Depending on how the feeding evaluation goes, they may order a video swallow study, which is basically like an X-ray while he's eating. He ate really well up until yesterday. Then he started refusing again. Could be because of his ear pain though. I am concerned on how much he gags on table foods and the fact that he threw up so much after eating a bite of cracker so we'll see....