Tongue Tied

We went to see a specialist yesterday back in Jacksonvile. It was a memorable visit. They checked for hearing for the first time since the NICU. He heard fine when he wasn't hollering. He didn't like the test which consisted of me holding him in my lap while speakers on either side made sounds at different volumes. Something about this really upset him. I still don't know why. Anyway, next the ear nose and throat doctor checked the ear nose and throat. The ears looked good which I didn't expect. Babies are supposed to have ear infections, but Jordan was fine. The nose was congested pretty bad. He usually is congested, but the doctor wanted a clear view so she gave a prescription strength decongestant. For the rest of the day everytime Jordan sneezed it looked like a party favor was coming out of his nose. He had streams extending below his chin after a sneeze. Then we had about 5 second to wipe before he did it himself.

Did you know that there is a medical condition that doctors actually call 'tounge tied'? Jordan has never stuck out his toungue or licked his lips. When he babbles he never makes the S or L sounds. I always thought it was a result of age, but it turns out that one of the tendons attached to his tongue is unusually tight. This could easily result in a speach impediment or lisp if left untreated. The doctor wants to treat it. Also his airways are a little funny. His vocal chords are a little out of alignment. We all have two sides that come together and create sound when we push air through them. Normally they come togther in the middle, but for Jordan one side (I believe the left) isn't coming all the way to the middle, so the other one over compensates. This itself isn't a problem, but the doctor wants to know why. It is most likely because of being on the vent for the first month after birth, but it could be from something else like swelling or an infection. More over, there is a problem in the windpipe. There is a flap of tissue that covers the windpipe when we swallow to keep food from entering the lungs. That part works fine on Jordan, but the rest of the time it doesn't fully go back to normal. That slightly restricts the airflow resulting in a slight wheeze. If you have ever spend a day with Jordan, you know that sometimes you can hear him breathe. This is why. Anyway, he has been diagnosed with Stridor. I'll leave it up to you to Google it, but the doctor isn't happy. She wants to go in and check it out with a bunch of procedures ending in -oscopy, not -ectomy so it shouldn't be too bad. The procedures are outpatient, but require him to be under anesthesia for about 45 minutes or so. She will go in down the throat to get a better look with one of those fiber optic cameras and fix what she can. She will definitely fix the tongue. The procedure is scheduled for May 5th. We are going to research the stuff a little more to see what we can learn. Luckily, little Ali has no idea what is going on. I'll update on his development otherwise next week. He is growing so fast.