First of all, I think it is amazing that after being with us for 9 years, this is the first time I felt the need to even record a health history for Ben! The kid is built like a tank and rarely gets sick and has very few health issues.
Having said that, besides needing dental surgery in December, there is nothing serious going on with Ben that is necessitating me starting this health history. He continues to be very healthy.
However, it helps my "old mom" brain to summarize things so I think it's good for me to have a record of what's going on with Ben health wise.
Ben had surgery at 18 moths old (2012) in Vilnius, Lithuania for VSD, ventricular septal defect.
September 2016 to current
From his very first cardiology appointment here in Wisconsin in September 2016, our cardiologist has been very impressed with the quality of Ben's heart repair that was done at the Vilnius Children's Hospital.
For the first few years he was home, we saw the cardiologist every year, but now we see him every 3 years. This shows how great Ben is doing!
"Hypothyroidism results from a faulty thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is involved in controlling how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and regulates hormones. In hypothyroidism, the creation of the hormone thyroxin is decreased. Thyroxin is the hormone that promotes growth of the brain and other body tissue. Hypothyroidism is the most common endocrine problem in children with Down syndrome." (National Down Syndrome Society)
Ben's hypothyroidism has been very easy to treat by taking levothyroxine daily. The only challenge during his growing years is he needs blood work every 6mths to make sure he is at the right medication level. Once he has finished growing, he will probably switch to yearly blood work.
9-29-25
Now, bad mom confession. In November 2024, Ben had a virtual 6mth endocrine checkup. From there, I forgot to schedule his 6mth checkup for May 2025. So Ben has not had blood work in 12mths. He is schedule for blood work/checkup this November.
This goof-up on my part may lead to the current dental issue Ben is currently dealing with.
Ben had his 6mth dental appointment yesterday.
For the most part, Ben has always had great dentist appointments. He has no cavities. He has had some plague buildup at a checkup here or there over the years, but nothing that has happened consistently. The message I usually leave with at these appointments is that things look great, and we should continue with whatever we are doing.
But yesterday, Ben's teeth presented very differently. Ben had lots of plague buildup. The dentist also indicated that Ben has some bone loss in one area of his gums. This means the disease has progressed past the first stage (gingivitis).
Click HERE for info about gum disease
Now the plan for treating Ben's periodontal disease. Ben will need to have surgery under general anesthesia in order for the dentist to pull 3 baby teeth (blocking 2 adult teeth from coming down leading to a prime place for bacteria to gather) and to have scaling and planing (deep cleaning of the gum). Hopefully, this surgery will help rebuild the bone and tissue.
I'm guessing this would be too much for him to handle under local anesthesia which is why he will be put under.
I'm very confused how Ben's teeth could have gotten this bad in the past 6 months. I confess we don't floss Ben's teeth, but we never have flossed, and as I mentioned earlier, he never had serious plague buildup. The dentist did explain this is probably the result of many factors besides just poor brushing: puberty, genetics, and Ben's hypothyroidism (can increase the risk of gum issues). So many pieces to this puzzle.
Of course, mom guilt has me worried the thyroid piece of this puzzle might be a factor because perhaps Ben's medication level has been wrong for the past 12 mths.
However, when I reached out to Ben's endocronologist, she reassured me that Ben's hypothyroidism has been well-controlled over the long picture so she doesn't think that would be causing problems with his teeth. This leaves poor brushing habits (now that he's heavy into "teen angst"), genetics and the make up of his adult teeth vs. baby teeth. That did relieve some of my mom guilt...
Dental surgery set for 12-5-25.
11-7-25
Ben had is 3 year heart echocardiogram and visit with cardiologist today. Everything continues to look great from his repair done at 18 mths old.
The cardiologist also has no concerns for Ben’s upcoming dental surgery regarding the anesthesia.
11-7-25
Relief! Ben's labs are in normal range, despite not being checked for 12mths. Usually we check every 6 mths.
Ben's dental surgery happened on 1-5 (had to be rescheduled from 12-5), and it went very smoothly. The mystery is somewhat solved as to why Ben all of a sudden got infection in his gums when he's always had great dental checkups. The dentist thinks the 3 baby teeth that were refusing to come out was causing a great place for bacteria to build up. Now that these 3 teeth have been pulled, she is very hopeful Ben's gums will get back to their usual healthy again. That was a relief to hear.
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