(New) Another Day at Children’s Hospital … Pictures Added

Lia Faith hasn’t slept very well since coming home in December. She’s was evaluated by an ENT at Children’s South early on and underwent a sleep study following that. The ENT subsequently recommended taking out the adenoids, a minor surgery, requiring only a few minutes. But that would have to wait until the meningocele had been addressed. So it was put off until now. Here's how it went. But first, a little education, courtesy of Texas Pediatric Surgical Associates – they had a good web site description of Lia’s condition. And since I had no clue what an adenoid was, I thought others might be interested in the information. Forgive me if this information isn't new to you. Just know that Lia is doing fine, but is staying the night here for precautionary reasons. And know also that your prayers for her are an amazing encouragement to us, grace from a Father who knows all and is all.





"What are adenoids? The adenoids are a single clump of tissue in the back of the nose (nasopharynx). They are located (in the adult) on the back wall of the throat (pharynx)...about one inch above the uvula (the little teardrop shaped piece of tissue that hangs down in the middle of the soft palate).

What do the adenoids do? The tonsils and the adenoids are mostly composed of lymphoid tissue, which is found throughout the gastrointestinal tract and on the base of the tongue. Lymphoid tissue is composed of lymphocytes...which are mostly involved in antibody production. It is clear that, in many cases, the tonsils and/or the adenoids become "dysfunctional" and are more of a liability than an asset.

Why are the adenoids removed? There are a number of well-established valid reasons for removal (called an adenoidectomy). Some patients will have more than one reason, but the most common reason for removal is oversized adenoids. The adenoids may be large enough to cause "mouth breathing", snoring, or even sleep apnea(blockage of breathing during sleep). This degree of enlargement may be associated with chronic fluid or infection in ears. Inability to breathe through the nose causes a reduction in smell (and therefore taste). This is most commonly seen in pre-school children but can exist as early as several months of age. If not corrected early on, the lack of proper oxygen levels can affect learning and other cognitive functions."



So, there you have it. This was the diagnosis for our little Lia Faith. Simple. And that’s created a lot of sleepy people around our house. Lia does OK so long as someone is with her constantly, but the minute you get up, she wakes up. As a result, sometimes our house looks like “Night of the Zombies,” with all the sleep walkers moving about. It’s probably a little spooky to the uninformed. We take turns “keeping” the girls asleep, sometimes resorting to one parent sleeping with each snorer and sleep walker. Lily sleeps a little better than Lia, but has also had her sleep routine disturbed. I’ve often thought about setting up a video camera to capture the overnight traffic up and down the stairs – it would be funny to watch, I’m sure. Just not right now! Where we start sleeping and where we wake up is like musical chairs! And there are never enough chairs. And yes, waking up in one is not an unprecedented event!



So, today, the ENT got his chance and did his thing. But Lia, ever the focal point of attention, decided to make sure we got our money’s worth by earning us all a night’s stay at Children’s. After the adenoid surgery, most children are sent home, but Lia's history (previous surgeries, sleep studies, and low oxygen levels), coupled with a mild reaction to the “I don’t care” medicine left the docs here with no option except to admit her. We discussed this medicine before the surgery and concluded it would be good to use it. Er, next time, we'll rethink that conclusion. So here we are watching two numbers, oxygen and pulse rate, go up and down on a monitor that makes her toe look like ET's finger!



The staff here is great, but they couldn’t calm our little Lia after surgery, so we were “invited” into the recovery room, where all manner of children were being cared for as they returned from their own surgeries. It was certainly a humbling experience, hearing their cries, and gives us more than enough to compose proper prayers. These children shouldn’t have to go through what they do. You could see in the eyes of each child a fear of the unknown and the pain they were dealing with. And for those parents, like us, “lucky” enough to be witnesses, you could see in their eyes a desire to trade places with their suffering babies. Please pray for these children and their families.





As for us, hopefully, we’ll all get to go home tomorrow and sleep in our own beds – all night. By the way, anybody got a copy of “Night of the Zombies?”




Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five