Abby's Tonsil Saga

This story has to start all the way back in July, when our pediatrician (love, love, love her) referred Abby to the local sleep clinic, suspecting she may have sleep apnea.  Sleep apnea can cause a lot of behavior problems in kids (we all know how we feel when we're not getting good sleep).  After an initial appointment with the Dr. there, it was determined that we should come back and do a sleep study.  Abby's tonsils are enlarged, which is a common cause of sleep apnea in kids, she tosses and turns in her sleep, and always wakes up grumpy, which was enough for the Dr. to order the study.

A couple nights later, Abby got all ready for bed at home, and then she and I headed off to the sleep clinic.

She was really excited because she was going to get to watch a movie while they hooked her up to all the wires!

Once we got to the clinic, they showed us to the room we'd be sleeping in and let us get settled.  Of course, Abby wanted to start watching "Cars" (the movie she had selected) right away!

They had the room all set up like a nursery.  It was darling.

Abby did such a great job cooperating with the woman who was putting on all her electrodes and monitors.  By the end, she had at least 25 (there might have been a couple I missed) different things stuck on her.  Even though I knew she was fine and it was just to monitor her sleep, there was something heart-breaking about seeing her like that.

Checking herself out in a little mirror!  Sadly, after this picture, my camera died, so I didn't get one when she was ALL hooked up.

The sleep study showed that she does, in fact, have acute sleep apnea.  She wakes up 7 times an hour.  Yes, an HOUR.  No wonder she tends to be so grumpy; the poor thing never gets into her deep, restorative sleep.  Because of her enlarged tonsils, her oxygen rate drops 83% when she's asleep.  So, a referral was sent to the Ear Nose and Throat specialist, and we got an appointment to get her tonsils removed.

Abby was REALLY nervous about having the surgery, but super excited about eating ice cream and watching movies afterward!  Her biggest concern was the IV, for whatever reason.  So, the week or so leading up to her surgery date (Sept. 22) was really rough.  When she is anxious, she gets really mean and aggressive, so, needless to say, we were really looking forward to the surgery happening.  The day before the surgery, Abby was quiet and mellow.  When I checked on her at quiet time, I saw this:

Asleep in her chair in her "special space" (the curtained off space under her loft bed)

That was pretty surprising, but I thought she probably was just really nervous.  When she woke up and I held her, I knew something was wrong.  She was super hot, and when I took her temp, I found that she had a fever.  So, I called the ENT and they said we needed reschedule.  Bummer.  But, I have to believe that the Lord had a reason for her to not be in surgery that day.  

Now, the surgery is rescheduled for November 10th.  We told Abby that it's canceled and she'll do it when she's older (since 2 months might as well be 5 years to her).  The last few days have been much more pleasant, now that she has the worry of the surgery off her mind!