Zoo and ENT

On Monday, Brian had to go back to work and I had all three kiddos home.  Aunt Annie came in for the week, so we spent the day with her.  We started out by going to the zoo.  Even though we had been to a few other zoos lately, we hadn't been to the Mesker Park Zoo in a while.  We had a great day there and then we went home for lunch and naps. 

After naps, I took Gavin to his ENT appointment.  Aunt Annie stayed with the girls.  I was anxious about this appointment all day.  His appointment was at 2:30 and we got there a few minutes early.  It didn't take any time at all to check in and then we waited. We waited...and waited...there were some toys to play with which helped.  Plus, Gavin pooped twice (TMI I know, but it helped pass the time:)  Finally, we were called back where we waited a bit longer to meet Dr. Whale.  Thankfully, it was well worth our wait!  Dr. Whale was great!  He took some time to hear Gavin's story and gather all of the information.  He talked over everything with me and laid out many options.  Basically, he thinks Gavin was born with a narrow passageway.  The only way to find that out for sure though, is to put him to sleep again, which could cause more problems.  Right now, he doesn't want to do anything.  He also said that he has NOT had Croup and does NOT have asthma (which was music to my ears because I've been saying this all along!).  He called it recurrent stidor.  He said that if he starts getting sick at all, the stridor flares up because of the narrow passageway.  He also questioned the possibility of a vascular lesion in his throat.  If it happens again, we are supposed to take him straight to the emergency room like we have in the past. Dr. W thinks that as he gets bigger, his passageway should grow with him.  If Gavin didn't need any other procedures in his near future, we would just wait and see what happened and hope he grew out of it.  Unfortunately, that is not the case for Gavin. 

Dr. W kept saying over and over he had no idea why the MRI took 6 hours.  Before we left, he had me sign papers so that he could get all of the MRI information from St. Mary's.  He is also hoping to talk to the anesthesiologist himself and find out what size tube he used on Gavin the last time.  He's also hoping that they looked at the neck during the MRI so he can see the passageway.  He is going to figure all of this out before our next appointment in two months.  I was able to get the appointment on August 1st which made me happy because I won't be in school yet.

 Dr. Whale also looked at Gavin.  He looked in his ears, mouth, and felt around on his throat.  Dr. W was very impressed with how well behaved Gavin was.  I was proud of him.  Dr. W even gave him a big Tootsie Roll Pop so Gavin was in heaven and a sticky mess by the time we got home.  I left the appointment feeling really good and knowing that we were heading in the right direction.  Dr. W gave me props and said that I am well knowledged on Gavin, get to the point, and know the terminology.  He told me not to let anyone's opinions sway me and to stick to my gut.  That was exactly what I needed to hear!  The other thing he said, which was probably the most important, was that if Gavin ever has to be put under for any reason, we need to talk to the anesthesiologist personally.  He gave us a few key words to say and hopefully we will know a tube size as well.  He also recommended that unless it is an emergency situation, we don't do anything until we meet again in August. 

The mist by the lion was a big hit!  The lion wasn't in a good mood though...he snapped at me!