Wow, this has been quite a journey with our little guy. But one that I feel I’m meant to share in the chance that it can help anyone out there.

I’d like to say that Asher was a straight forward tonsillectomy case, but no such luck. His was very tough to diagnose.

Asher has never, I repeat, never had strep.

He always seemed to have allergies. Drainage was always running down his throat.

He mouth breathed and snored when he slept. (And probably breathed through his mouth all of the time, but I didn’t notice it during the day.)

He was a terribly restless sleeper. He would wake up with dark circles under his eyes and exhausted. At age 5.

He struggled with focus and attention during the day. But then could also hyper focus on a project to where it was difficult to get his attention.

We started with the pediatrician. She recommended Occupational Therapy and a Pediatric Allergist.

OT was good for him in that it helped him focus on projects and tasks that he didn’t come up with. (Kids are always great at accomplishing their own ideas.) This taught him to follow what the Therapist, or a teacher, directed. And the best part- he thought he was playing.

But it didn’t solve the problem.

The allergist did the pokes ALLLLL over his back (like 60+) and it came back with nothing. Nothing! Just give him Claritin.

That wasn’t good enough for me.

Yet, the Allergist also threw out doing a sleep study. 

Yikes- I’d heard sleep studies are rough. All hooked up to wires and then expected to sleep. But my gut told me something was wrong and I should pursue the study.

We went to an ENT. He did an x-ray and said he saw nothing out of the ordinary that would warrant Asher’s tonsils to come out, without any other extenuating factor(s).

So, on to a Pulmonologist. She would see if the sleep study was worthwhile for Asher. Spoiler alert- after that appointment, she immediately ordered the study through Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Up until this point, the process has taken months. Then we waited almost another 2 months before getting a sleep study date. Again, in my mind, I was either crazy and putting my child through a lot of unnecessary things, or my mom gut was right, and something was wrong with my boy.

Asher was a champ getting though the sleep study. While hooked up to more than 20 wires, he slept almost 6 hours. I, on the other hand, did not.

Sleep Apnea. My boy had sleep apnea. He actually stopped breathing at one point during the study. My heart sank- how could I not know my child wasn’t breathing at points during the night! And yet my heart was also overjoyed- my mom gut was right!!!!

Back to the pediatrician. By this point, we learned that Asher’s tonsils were pretty much always inflamed causing almost pre-cold like symptoms with a low grade fever. But he was not sick! It’s so crazy!

She referred us to the Pediatric ENT, who felt that pretty much all of Asher’s previous symptoms were being caused by his tonsils. Including focus issues!

On to surgery we went. After MONTHS of trying to figure out the root cause.

I share all of this because it just confirms to me that there are often root issues that can cause a multitude of symptoms. And these symptoms are sometimes seemingly unconnected.

His tonsils weighed just over 10g, 4 times the normal size, and had lots of tonsil stones!! My poor boy! His adenoids were removed at the same time.

Since then- he continues to sleep sooooo much better and is finally a quiet sleeper!! (His future wife will thank me.) On night 1 he no longer snored!!

He is eating a TON! The surgeon told me this would probably happen. Yes, his tonsils had slowly made it tough for him to eat! And he didn’t know. (Hear my mom heart breaking again.) The boy is eating more, sleeping better, focusing better, and overall is a happier kid.

Surgery for a 6 year old is no walk in the park. But I cannot imagine not doing it and having Asher’s body suffer for the rest of his life.

Y’all, Claritin could never have “fixed” this. If you mom gut tells you something is wrong, do not just put a band aid on your kid. Or on you, for that matter.

Totally stop reading at this point- unless you or a friend will have a child have tonsils and adenoids out.

The days following surgery will be like a rollercoatster!! The first 2 days he seemed great. Then he had a number of tough days- day 4 being the hardest with his pain. Day 10 was his best day, but hang in there as your child might have a number of low energy and constant pain days. We sent Asher back to school on day 12 post surgery.

Food Log: (No judgement here- some of these are not healthy options, but the goal is to get something in their system that they are able to swallow.)

Day 1- popsicle, Jello, yogurt
Day 2- eggs, mashed potatoes, Jello, pudding, banana
Day 3- eggs, smoothie, yogurt, oatmeal, pumpkin bread
Day 4- yogurt, pancake, smoothie, applesauce, eggs, warmed bread without crust

From day 5+, he was doing so much better and could pretty much eat what he wanted. We still stayed away from chips- as they could scratch or cut this incision areas. Another interesting thing- we were told no foods with red dye. This is mainly because they could start to bleed and it needs to be clear if the child is bleeding, or if they ate lots of red Jello, etc. But also in general, red dye is no bueno anyway.

Pain Meds: We gave Motrin and Tylenol, and opted not to give him the prescription medicine. YES we woke him at night to continue the alternating schedule of every 3-4 hours. Better to stay ahead of the pain! Night 9 was the first time he slept through the night and only had Motrin given before he went to bed! Sweet sleep for all. 

I really do hope that this information helps other mamas and kids out there! Feel free to ask any other questions and/or pass it along.

Embrace Life