Well, more news on this busy week! I received the results of Zach's sleep study yesterday and they were quite alarming but finally a solid answer somewhere that makes sense and puts a massive piece of the puzzle together. Zach has Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea... he was found to have stopped breathing completey and partially a total of 209 times the night of the study. They said he is equivalent to getting a solid 2 hours of sleep per night! I can only imagine how exhausted he feels from not getting the proper rest nightly. This explains his trouble focusing at school, possibly his fatigue issues, the bags under his eyes (though there still may be allergy shiners), his ability to nap at practically anytime and his moodiness.
What is the next step? Zach will go to the ENT (ears, nose and throat doc) for an appointment to set up a tonsillectomy, possibly an adenoitonsillectomy (where they remove the adenoids too). The adenoids will be determined by the ENT and the allergist this month. Zach's tonsils are normal size but his uvela (the little drip thingy in the back of the throat) is quite long and his throat is very narrow. When you sleep, your tonsils relax and his are blocking his airway.
We, of course, need approval from Dr. Lehman for this and also need to discuss the anesthetics due to Zach's horrible response during his to the anesthesia during his MRI/MRA. My hope is that they can do this surgery during the summer before school starts so that he can have a fresh beginning for his school year. We also run into seeing Dr. Lehman at the end of the summer and need to have him healed before that trip to NYC.
Zach received his new knee splints yesterday and his orthodics for his feet. The splints will take some getting used to as they are quite tight until he breaks them in. We are observing him closely as he has some discoloration around his knees last night, one more than the other. We are not sure if it was some of the dye from the inside of the splint from the black "shoe pads" around his knee cap or if they are truly cutting off his circulation. I will have his PT check at his water therapy appointment today.
Zach felt a little funny about his splints, but when I explained that these are his Magic Legs to make him strong like a super hero, he perked up and began strutting his stuff. He felt very proud of his new Magic Legs. I just know they are going to be a bit uncomfortable during the hot days of summer for him. His orthodics are easy as he was even able to switch them into another pair of sneakers himself. I have yet to figure out how to add pictures to my blog but will have a pic of Zach with his new Magic Legs on my FB page.
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