So
I guess if someone is smart they should never say never.... of course I put my
foot down and then had to eat my words last Thursday. I had decided I was never going
to see another specialist for Noah's lip or tongue tie ever again since I had
finally found someone who seemed to know what they were talking about (Dr. L).
This was ignorant for me to proclaim, but honestly I have just been
so exhausted by meeting all the WRONG people, I was content with settling
for ANYONE who seemed like they even kind of knew what they were talking about
in regards to Noah's issues. Go back 2 blogs if you have no clue what I'm
talking about, and want to catch up!
To
clarify, therapy has been going GREAT, and I have had peace about our
decision to wait until closer to 3 to address his revisions... until I
recently received the finalized report from the initial speech
assessment. The report stated that after 3 months of therapy they
would re-evaluate if Noah needed surgical revisions... well, I started doing
the math and realized this would be falling RIGHT when our baby girl would
make her debut... Yep, perfect timing let me tell you haha. Looking at the time
line, I realized that if at that point the therapist thought he did need a
revision, then life would be exponentially more complicated.. SO I decided
to seek out one. last. specialist. This woman is a pedi dentist I have
heard about a number of times, but she is in the Woodlands and I had no clue if
she would be worth the drive or not... All the other million specialists I
had seen couldn't help us, and my expectations just haven't been very high
for anyone.. I guess I've become a little jaded and tired of hearing the
same thing over and over again. But alas! This time it
was different!
FINALLY THE RIGHT
PERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Question: Have you ever been lost, and stopped a million
times to ask people for directions, and felt like no one had any clue how to
help you get where you going? Then... UREKA! you finally find the one
person who knows exactly where you are and exactly where you need to
go... all of a sudden you're on the right road, and you FINALLY get
to your destination quickly and swiftly. Dr. Martinez was 100% different than
every other specialist I have been to, and was like a light in a dark
room.
A New Approach: She started off the meeting
with a 30 minute power point presentation about tongue, lip, and feeding
problems from birth through adulthood. She had pictures, definitions,
scientific articles to reference, pre-and post-op expectations laid out. She
showed exactly what a normal mouth anatomy looked like, and
explained every single tongue/lip tie that could possibly exist. She took
her time and was VERY thorough, it was obvious to me I had finally
found someone who knew what they were talking about... and most of all she knew
was I was talking about. I
feel like I have been speaking a foreign language to people for years, and when
I spoke to her it was like she could finish my sentences... brilliant.
Differing opinions: Dr. L who
diagnosed both of Noah's lip and tongue ties, is still a good Doctor who knew
more than the average dentist about ties, however she did not know the extent
of what Dr. Martinez knew. She also had a totally different opinion
about one particular thing. Dr. L had stated that it was OK for us to wait
until Noah was three to have his revisions done. She did not feel comfortable
doing the procedure on such a young child because she would put him under
anesthesia to complete the revisions. Dr. Martinez clarified that her procedure
would not need to be done under anesthesia, and that it is actually preferable
that you have the procedure done as soon as possible after diagnosis. The
reason for this is that if a child learns how to say a word it is more
difficult to teach them how to say it correctly when they have learned it
incorrectly, especially after their vocabulary has expanded from the age of two
through three so drastically. Also his feeding issues would most likely not
resolve without the intervention. She predicted that he would probably
be a lot happier as well finally being able to use his tongue properly to eat
and talk with more confidence... that almost brought me to tears thinking
about how frustrated he has been with these issues from birth.
A Final Diagnosis: Dr. Martinez did
a much more thorough examination of Noah than any other doctor has done, even
though she had to basically hold him down to do it. We found out he has a very
high upper palate which apparently goes along with his lip and tongue tie. His
lip tie is a type 2 anterior (front) tongue tie, which is different
then what we originally thought was a deep rear tongue tie.
Apparently these are more common and easier to diagnosis.... so she says...
I was absolutely dumbfounded that he had a front tongue tie and that
again so many people had looked in his mouth and had never been able to
properly diagnose it. She reassured me better late than never, but that in
his situation he would have to have it done eventually at some point in his
life anyways. FYI: Apparently lip, tongue ties and palate issues are
along the same lines as cleft palates etc... who would have thought? I
know that it sounds hasty that I saw her on Friday and scheduled the procedure
on Monday, but after two years of searching for answers we can't find a really
good reason why we should wait?? Especially since I have a newborn coming in
approximately five weeks. Dr. Martinez also stated that Noah's issues are
most likely inherited from me, that I probably have the same tongue tie
issues, and that our daughter might as well.
Side note about our baby
girl: I
asked about what to expect after birth, and she said that she would recommend
getting her evaluated as soon as possible. Especially if we do not have
confidence in the neonatologist at our hospital. The reason for this is, once
the is damage done from nursing it is hard for a woman's body to heal when they
have to nurse so frequently. She actually allocates slots during her day for
mothers coming home from the hospital to bring their newborn babies by, to have
them evaluated to prevent any type of nursing issues from the beginning. She is
an hour away from our house, but I promise you if the neonatologist at our
hospital does not instill confidence in me that she has a perfectly normal oral
anatomy, then will we will be going by. The struggles my son has experienced
over the last 2 years are not something I would wish my daughter to go through
if I can help it. What is one hour wasted if she doesn't have them, versus 2
years of feeding/speaking difficulties...
Relief: I cannot put into words the
relief that I finally felt Thursday with a proper plan moving forward. The days
of watching my son spit up blood from nursing are finally going to be wiped
away, and the torture we have been feeling from having to learn how to re-feed
him at two years old hopefully will be alleviated a little . The frustration I
feel from this two year long battle is finally starting to let up a little bit.
I've had a few issues with resentment lately however, because I just cannot
believe that I knew in my heart and soul weeks after he was born that something
was wrong and NO ONE could help us! I can never get the long hours
back that I spent lugging him all over Houston to see specialists or erase the
visions of on-going frustration I have seen in his eyes over the past year not
being able to communicate with us, but I know in my heart that it all was a
part of the path to get us to where we are now. In the grand scheme of
things, I have always said I know that this is not that big of a deal
especially when you think about children who are suffering from chronic disease
processes or are born with congenital abnormalities. But it has been a mini
bump in our road, and I'm grateful I can finally see the road starting to
clear.
Final thoughts: I feel a ton of relief that
he does not have go to under anesthesia tomorrow. I'm also happy to hear
the recovery is pretty quick. The lack of anesthesia though, means that
they are going to basically put him in a toddler sized swaddler and hold
him down for 20 minutes to do the procedure. I know there are worse things, and
I'm grateful he won't remember this, I just hate knowing I'm
willingly going to put him through pain, even if it is for his own good... Also
we have 2 post-op visits that fall in the following 2 weeks. This means
that I will be going to some sort of medical appointment 4 times per WEEK
between my OB visits and his therapy for a couple of weeks right before
Thanksgiving and then we have a baby coming! I need prayer for endurance
for the next month because I just don't know how I'm going to have the energy
to do it all, but I know it will get done. Noah will continue to need
speech therapy as well because his chewing and swallowing is so messed up,
and his language is so behind but we'll take that one day at a time. Also I
expect progress will be expedited after the revision! For now, we're moving in
the RIGHT direction, and that' s a very good thing.
Thank
you to everyone who has reached out to me with encouragement! Also, to the
mommas who have messaged me privately inquiring about their little ones, I
would love to connect you with Dr. Martinez. She is by FAR the only person I
would recommend you spend any amount of time meeting with if you have
any inclination about your munchkin having this problem. Will keep
you all updated on Noah's progress post revision. In the mean time, keep
fighting the good fight of trying to raise healthy little ones.
Love and Blessings,
The Veggie Momma
