Owen Updates

Owen has had a chronic cough, chronic runny nose & countless infections since 10 months old. He has had so many doctors appointments & no real answers. The pedi's office says to check with allergy & GI. GI says it is an allergy issue, allergy says it is a GI issue. Round & round we go, with no answers & no solutions! I don't care what the issue is & I don't care who solves it. I just want it solved! I can't stand listening to him cough, choke & gag. It breaks my heart to always hear him say that he feels "not good" & is "I just coughing mommy". It is so hard to tell a 2.5 year old that he needs to stop running & playing b/c he can't breathe. There are times he can't even get a sentence out b/c he is choking on mucus. Yet, his lungs always sound clear. My baby has been coughing for 2 years, somebody needs to fix him!!!

I came home from a doctor's visit in June in tears. Everyone was blaming everyone else & nobody was getting Owen healthy! I did some research & found a program at Children's Hospital that sounded like it could help Owen. But, it wasn't exactly what he needed. I looked further & found a program through Mass General & Mass Eye & Ear that was made for Owen!! The Pediatric Airway Program was exactly what we had been looking for http://www.massgeneral.org/children/specialtiesandservices/airway_program/default.aspx
I called & they agreed that Owen was a perfect candidate. The best part was, they could get us in the next week!!

What a welcome change that first appointment was. We saw an ENT, GI, & pneumonolgist. They didn't pass the blame, they worked together & talked. We felt like there was some hope! The team decided to try several new meds & see if those could make a difference.

Unfortunatley, the meds didn't work nearly as well as we hoped. In September, Owen had a triple scope & his adnoids were removed. During the surgery, a lot of fluid was removed from his lungs (not that you would know when he woke up, he still sounded awful). His lungs reacted several times while under anesthesia, which is apparently not normal for asthma. His O2 remained low after the surgery, so we stayed overnight. The doctor suggested that Owen might benefit from chest PT to help get all the junk out of his lungs.

His adnoids were very inflammed & infected. The scopes showed a lot of chronic inflammation & chronic infections (he was sent home on antibiotics). The fluid in his lungs tested positive for 3 kinds of bacteria found in sinus infections. There was some inflammation in his stomach, mild gastritis. But, everything else GI related was perfect! It sounded like removing the adnoids was just what he needed.