09.14.2008 - Sleeping Soundly

From Julian's COTA journal

We are back at the Ronald McDonald House, and Julian is napping peacefully and "quietly"! No snoring, no obstructive apnea, no cessation of breathing! We are thanking God for the miracle of modern medicine and the healing touch He brings as well!

We are very glad the docs decided to do the surgery after just looking at Julian's tonsils. Usually there is a sleep study required, then an analysis, etc. But the Ear/Nose/Throat Doctor bypassed all of that and expedited (and I mean EXPIDITED) Julian's surgery...they admitted him to the hospital the SAME DAY as the evaluation and did the surgery the next day.

It was interesting to see Julian's oxygenation saturation numbers the night before the surgery and then to see them last night, 2 night after the surgery. The night before the surgery, he was dipping into the low 80's during the second half of the night, on a regular basis. He was hard to arouse during these times, and it is obvious now by looking at the monitors that he was not getting enough oxygen during these portions of sleep.

However, last night he stayed in the mid-high 90%'s all night long. I am so glad we got this resolved. If any parents out there of young children notice that they snore alot during the night, and seem sleepy during the day, or gag themselves awake occasionally throughout the night, I would recommend getting sleep study to see if they have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Over time it can actually damage their brain and/or heart.

Well, thanks again for being a part of our prayer team! It appears now that we will be staying through October 3rd. Julian has his second-to-last Xenopax (Decluzalab) IV infusion on the 2nd which we cannot get at Denver Children's Hospital unless we change his Pediatrician from Dr. Beesley in Estes Park to someone we don't know at the day clinic at Denver Children's.....which we're not about to do.....so we need to stay here in California and then come back again on October 30th for his last one.

Take care.

Stacy

p.s. Stacy called me at SJC to report that Julian woke up from his nap HAPPY. For several weeks now, he's been waking up grumpy (this is starting to sound like Snow White...) due to the fact that he could never really get any deep rest while sleeping, such was his obstructive apnea. I think we'll all sleep better now.

David