DONE AND HOME

Jonah's tonsils are history- surgery was on Monday, and he came home Tuesday afternoon.  He had some dips in oxygen during his sleep and needed 02 for about a half-hour early Tuesday morning, but by Tuesday noon, doctor said he was good to go home!  

Now that we are home, we are working on keeping up with the doses of Advil/Tylenol and to make sure Jonah isn't too active.  It's a good sign he wants to be up and about, but we have to make sure he doesn't overdo it.  

Jonah in his Pre-Op room

Jonah after surgery up in his room.  His color and breathing were great!  Relief!

During surgery, the ENT did a nasal endoscopy to see if there were any other issues that might be contributing to Jonah's severe sleep apnea.  He discovered 2 things:

1. The back of Jonah's tongue falls back when Jonah sleeps.  Hopefully with the tonsils out, Jonah's tongue will start to "behave".  Another sleep study in a few months will determine how the tongue is working without tonsils.  Otherwise, when Jonah is a bit older, there is the possibility of a sensor that can be placed in the back of his throat that would help stimulant those muscles to keep the throat in place (similar to how a pacemaker works with the heart).  Right now this surgery is only approved for people 16 years and older.

2. Jonah has unilateral choanal atresia- blockage of his right nostril.  The ENT was very surprised to find this condition.  He doesn't see it very often.  The blockage can be made completely of bone or a combination of bone and soft tissue.  A CT scan is needed to determine the severity of the blockage.  It is a congenital condition which means it is something that did not form correctly in utero.  It is rare, 1 in 7000 births.  Whether this needs to be repaired by surgery will be determined by the CT scan and if there is any improvement when Jonah has another sleep study in a few months.  Since it only affects one nostril, it is possible Jonah would not need to have this fixed if removing the tonsils reduces his sleep apnea.  

Click HERE for article explaining Choanal Atresia  

Click HERE for another article

At home, for whatever reason, Jonah feels better with a 

pair of CLEAN underwear on his head!