3/28/08

Timothy update

I took Timothy in yesterday to see the ear, nose, and throat doctor regarding his failed hearing tests. On that front, the dr decided that since there was still so much fluid in his ears that he needs surgery to insert tubes to drain the fluid out. He is scheduled for surgery on April 16th and, because of his age and his other health issues, he will be staying the night. However, this dr was more concerned about Timothy's persistent congestion and the sound that he constantly makes. He believes that this is not related to his RSV or the subsequent colds he's had. If it was, then we would have seen a pattern of him getting better and then getting worse again when he caught these other colds. That has not been the case. The dr did a scope of Timothy's nose and throat and determined that while he does have severe acid reflux (which can cause and/or aggravate congestion), he does not think that the acid reflux is the main culprit. In fact, our pediatrician had already tried Timothy on meds for acid reflux and Timothy did not improve as far as his congestion is concerned. But, we will put him back on the Zantac immediately to help with this. Timothy is scheduled today to have an airway fluoroscopy performed. It is a special x-ray to look specifically at his airway (Timothy will be given the contrast fluid beforehand) as the dr believes Timothy's airway is collapsing slightly and that is causing the persistent congestion. He did not say what the treatment for this collapsing would be if that is what they find, but he did say that if it is not what they find on tomorrow's x-ray, then while he is sedated for his tube surgery, they will perform a more invasive scope called a bronchoscopy. We got so wound up in trying to figure out what to do related to Timothy's congestion that I never did ask him what, if anything, he wants to do regarding a repeat hearing test on Timothy after the surgery.

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