Sleep Study Tonight | ADHD Information

Well...wish us luck.  I don't think it'll be too bad.  We're trying to cross all our t's and dot all our i's in this long and winding road.  We've had Megan tested and she's been diagnosed with ADHD (amongst other things), but I want to rule out sleep apnea.  Normally, most people wouldn't worry about this, but she was born with a cleft lip and when she had that repaired, she had the excess skin from her one stretched nostril tucked into her nostril once they pulled it back into shape and it takes up almost the whole airway.  So I just want to make sure that she's getting enough air and deep sleep at night and that this isn't a partial cause of her hyperactivity/inattention. 

We had her hearing tested in the fall thinking maybe she was hard of hearing.  Nope...just stubborn as hell!    Perfect hearing.  But just because she hears perfectly doesn't mean she processes it perfectly.  So, she's also have a CAP (cumulative auditory processing test) done next month....took us that long to get the appointment booking it at the beginning of October!  It's a 4 1/2 hour test broken up into 2 days.  Goody....my boss is going to LOVE me taking 2 mornings off! 

She's packed some things for tonight, but I'm going to have to unpack the walkie talkies and Playdoh.  I'm not much into having to clean that stuff up or deal with those walkie talkie things tonight.  It'll be a Go Fish/watch tv/play Leapster kind of night.

let us know how it goes, it's good to cover all the bases!  it's good that you are being so thorough!

shelley

 

Good luck Kelly H. Let us know how it goes

Well....I think I'm going to work harder on convincing hubby that this needs to be done.  I did a search for "tonsil removal ADHD" and this study was a VERY popular find from March of 2006 I believe.  And this is exactly my reasoning behind having the surgery....

 

 

 

ms.mom39120.7799537037Well, how do you feel about anesthesia? Some parents are rather freaked out by that idea...

I underwent a sleep study myself about 6 years ago and found out that I had sleep apnea. I could've had surgery which is very painful and no guarantee to fix the problem(this isn't a tonsillectomy), or wear a mask at night to keep my airway open. I opted for the mask.

However, a tonsillectomy is a very routine surgery. I didn't have mine out until I was 19. I wish I had had them out when very young, because they caused me problems my whole childhood. So if it were my child, I would probably have the tonsils out.Taking the tonsils out sounds like a good idea.  Whether or not she has ADHD, getting enough rest is an important part of learning.  Anything you can do to help her sleep better makes sense to me. 

I'd only push is a little at a time with your husband.  You have till school is out to make a decision, so time is on your side.  Use every opportunity to (gently) point out how you think her sleep patterns are affecting her everyday life.  There are ways of getting around the stubborn husband.  Mine didn't want ds to be "labelled."  He figured once the teachers knew he had ADD, he'd be shifted into a vocational path instead of college prep.  Ds was in first grade at the time.  If we hadn't "labelled" him, he would have done much worse in school.  This grading period he brought home four A's a B and a C.  Not too shoddy for someone who's been "labelled."
KellyH - my husband has also been difficult throughout the dx and treatment of our 6yo ADD child.  he always has an opinion which somewhat differs with mine...the difference is I do alot of reading and research he does not.  I feel like his opinion is not an informed one and I "nicely" told him in order to have an opinion I think he needs to be "informed", so do some reading and research and then I will consider your "opinion"...I think this has worked some to reduce his negativity.  good luck

Hey 2boyz13!  Yes, I feel the same way....I mean here I am at work and I'm still reading this board (bad Kelly, bad Kelly! ).  I know he's scared about his baby girl, but I've done a lot of research, I print stuff off for him to read and he just glances at it.....aaaahhh!   I'm definitely going to try to work on the surgery for June. 

I don't have that big an issue with anesthia.  I am always concerned about it, but my daughter has already had 2 surgeries, so it's just something you learn to deal with knowing it's for the "betterment" (for lack of a better word!) of her life!  She was born with a cleft lip, so she had that repaired at 10 weeks (THAT'S when you get really nervous with anesthia!) and then a nose revision 2 summers ago.  The only issue I have with her being put out is that it needs to be done FIRST thing in the morning.  When she had her nose operated on, it was done by 8ish in the morning.  So it wasn't so bad that she hadn't eaten or drank since the night before.  And she was very peaceful afterwards.  No issues whatsoever.   HOWEVER, when they put her out to take her stitches out (a whopping 10 minute procedure, but they didn't want her to move), "things" kept coming up, and pushing back the surgery time so although we were there at 7 a.m., they didn't take her in till 10:45 a.m.  To say she was not happy is about as understated as can be.  If the windows could have been opened up on the 7th floor, the nurses might have done it for me so I could toss her out.  And then AFTERWARDS.....OMG.  She was Satan.  It was the worst 3 days of my life.  NOTHING made her happy.  And it wasn't because she was in pain or anything...I honestly believe it was because she was in such a foul mood going under that it most certainly exaserbated things when she came out.  AND my husband was in Iraq at the time.  I told him that if I could have run away then, I would have.  Not the thing to tell someone over there, but I had my own battles here.  It was a nightmare.  So that would be my only stipulation.  That she be the first person in there bright and early!  And both of her surgeries on her nose were day surgeries so we were in and out in under 4 hours! 

I have to say that Megan was soooooo good for the study.   She didn't say a PEEP when they cleaned each spot and glued it all down.  It's not that it hurt, but they clean the skin with something like facial scrub, so it's not exactly gentle either.  She had about 20 wires (at least, it seemed like that to me!) coming from her to the computer.  She had 4 on her legs, 2 on her cheeks, 2 by her eyes and a bunch on her scalp.  She wore 2 belts (1 around her chest and 1 around her stomach) and had 2 tubes up her nose.  Then they wrapped her head in gauze so that the leads woulnd't come unglued during the night.  She looked like she was bundled up with an old fashioned toothache!  And I forgot my camera!!!  She had an electric bed and moved it in every position imaginable!!!  I had to keep telling her it wasn't a toy.  And my bed was broken.    We went to bed at 10.  I woke up the few times the nurse came in to check on her during the night, but she didn't.  She did wake up at 5:30 when they came in to take the leads off and she didn't go back to sleep.   We left about 7ish after I washed her hair.  It went very well. 

I finally got the results Thursday.  It appears that although Megan wasn't losing any oxgen levels, she does have a mild case of sleep disturbance.  I asked if it could at all exacerbate her hyperactivity during the day and the doctor said absolutely, it most certainly could.  Her tonsils aren't huge, but they're not small, either.  She said that with the numbers she had on her test, she definitely qualified for surgery to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. 

So....I'm half of a mind that we should take her tonsils and adenoids out so as to give her any relief possible with hyperactivity without added medication.  On the other hand, UNTIL we remove the tonsils and adenoids, we have no idea HOW MUCH they actually contribute.  My husband doesn't think we should remove them.  Of course, he feels that he "allowed" me to medicate her, so I'm not expecting to see lightbulbs go off in his head just yet, either.

Has anyone been through this?  Did you remove the tonsils?  Why or why not?  The doctor said that she would have pain for a week and be out of school for that length of time.  We could easily wait till school is out.  Decisions...decisions....

Kelly H39117.8477430556