One Month Post-Op

One month surgery post-op appointments happened last week for Sleep and ENT.  We'll see Pulmonology in February.

Where in the world is up north?  It's north but that's about all I know unless it's concerning the airport.  Winding highways with lots of trees and you don't see much until you exit.  It's like they are hiding the shops and the house and the people.  I'm such a straight lined, city block, type of gal.

We find our way to the Sleep Clinic where Dr. Ingram sees patients.  He comes in and immediately shows me the graphs and says, "I want to know what happened on the 17th."  I don't know!  So we talk and think and I search my calendar.  Ah ha!  Dr. Escobar ordered an antibiotic to kill all the gunk in her lungs and clear the bacteria out.  We started it on the 14th.  It kicked in.  Why does he ask?

Lydia went from 50+ sleep apnea incidents per hour before CPAP to sleeping soundly with CPAP for 11 hours a night, still have many incidents but far fewer.  Then she had surgery, was readjusting to wearing it about 6 to 8 hours a night and having about 10 to 12 incidents per hour.  Then on the 17th and there after, 3 hours a night and 1 to 2 incidents per hour.  What happened?

We think the Augmentin cleared up some lingering sinusitis or something!  Whatever it was, we are grateful.  And the chronic cough?  Gone. Now we watch to see if she stays this way or the apnea comes back.  What happens the first time she gets sick?  What happens if her adenoids grow back, again?  What happens if her turbinates swell, again?  Sleep study planned for April to asses her need for CPAP.

Oh and about that being sick part.  Lydia was sick with an upper respiratory illness every month from May to October, 2021. School was out, vaccines were happening, masks came off, and wham.  Lydia had an early to mid October illness and hasn't had anything since, over a month and a half. Knock on all wood surfaces for me, okay? 

ENT checked out better than it ever has, truly, best ever.  Her ear tubes are functioning perfectly.  Her auditory tests came back 100%.  Her nasal passages are open.  And best news yet is that she is sleeping quietly and breathing easily, she is able to be a kid and breath in and out without struggle, labor and over exertion. Dr. Arganbright and I are taking the W.  It's just amazing where we've been and what we are experiencing now.  I often don't think Dan and I don't realize how scary our reality is until it's fixed. 

Lydia's CT Scan before surgery showed a comingling of contrast and non-contrast blood in her scan where the vein from her neck joins the vein from her left hand.  This could be a false alarm or it could be a clot.  She had her ultrasound last week, as well.  No results yet.

Pulmonology follow-up in February.  Dr. Escobar found from her lung cultures that she is growing normal bacteria.  He treated this with a two week regimen of Augmentin and it really helped.  All these sinus symptoms we've been treated for a long time with Montelukast, Flonase, Flovent, Albuterol and Zyrtec...maybe just gunk in her lungs that needed an antibiotic.  We'll see what comes next. 

All in all, things are going well.  Still some unknowns lingering out there.  We will wait.  Oh and in the meantime, Lydia got her 2 doses of the Covid vaccine.  I'm not preaching about our decision or shaming anyone for a different one.  I'm just sharing my relief that we can do what we believe is best to protect her and her heart and lungs.