Sleep Apnea

At Caleb's four year well-check in October, the pediatrician and I went line-by-line through the AAP guide for children with Down syndrome. One of the things mentioned is sleep issues, and the AAP recommends a sleep study by the age of four. Caleb hadn't had one yet, so the pediatrician ordered one. I took him to the sleep clinic at the local childrens hospital in December. That was a rough night, but he slept enough that they were able to get some good data. From that sleep study, we learned that he has sleep apnea. We also learned that there are basically two types of events that indicate the severity of sleep apnea. Apnea is a suspension or pause in breathing...thank goodness, Caleb didn't have any apnea events. He did have several hypopnea events though. Hypopnea is a overly shallow breathing and/or low respiratory rate. Caleb's ENT recommended Caleb have his tonsils and adenoids removed, so that leads us to today!

Caleb's tonsils and adenoids weren't particularly enlarged, but the ENT said that would be the first (and easiest) thing to try to help remedy the sleep apnea. While in the OR today, the ENT used a scope to watch Caleb's airway as he fell asleep. He didn't see any obstructions, but he said Caleb's airway is incredibly narrow. Getting the tonsils and adenoids out should make some room in that airway and help him breathe easier. He also checked Caleb's ears and put a new tube in his right ear. The tube in his left ear was still in position and open. 

Caleb did great waking up from anesthesia. He seemed comfortable and content watching a movie on his Kindle. About an hour later, we moved to a room on the pediatrics floor. Caleb took a good nap, Tyler came by for a visit, and then Caleb ate a decent dinner (soup, pudding, mashed potatoes, more pudding, yogurt and milk). Brad and Tyler went home a little while ago, so now Caleb and I are getting settled in for the evening and will hopefully go to bed before long. Assuming everything goes okay tonight, the plan is to go home tomorrow morning. Caleb will do another sleep study in a few months to see if today's surgery took care of the sleep apnea.