Wednesday, January 21, 2009

VICTORY is being able to say it...

It seems in most families there is one kid who has no luck... In ours, its Jo... from birth, he has struggled with the weirdest health difficulties. Looking back and piecing it together, we realize they are all connected, but everything is clearer in retrospect... At birth, he weighed a whopping 6 pounds. After a few months of slow weight gain, he was diagnosed with borderline failure to thrive and gross motor delay. In his first year of life, he had 7 ear infections and several sinus infections. At 13 months, he had febrile seizures that sent him to the ER 2 times, once he quit breathing. At 18 months, still underweight, he went in for surgery where they put tubes in and took adenoids out, then 3 months later he went back in and had his tonsils out. He was tested at 90% hearing loss and wasn't speaking at all. After years of speech therapy and some movement therapy (which, to Johns chagrin, included ballet classes...) He seems like a normal, healthy and happy child now...
We switched the boys to a new dentist and yesterday was the first appointment. After he had seen all 4 boys, he called me back to his office to discuss each one with him. He immediately put Jo's chart on the bottom and said the concern needed to go last... When we got to his chart, the first thing he told me was that Jo has a shor... (where i interrupted, yes, shortened frenum (Ankyloglossia or tongue tied) , I know) he looked at me and asked why it had never been taken care of. His old dentist told me there was no need for it, and he couldn't do it.... Turns out, this leads to periodontal problems later in life. I knew he had one bc it led to his poor weight gain (he couldn't nurse well), which led to formula, which led to excess ear infections (my nursing babies have NEVER had ear infections...) the ear infections caused the seizures (bc of extreme temp spikes related to infections) , and it spiraled down from there... His speech therapist told us at the end of last year that he was speaking as well as he would ever be able to, and that she would continue working with him, but the r's will prob. never be clear.

On feb. 11th, jo will go in for a quick in office procedure where they will snip and stitch and his frenum will no longer be an issue!!! (and he'll get to eat a ton of ice cream!) the dentist seems to feel that this will help with his speech problems, and I am hoping the r sounds will FINALLY come!
(the frenum is the flap of skin that attaches the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. Jos' comes to the very front of his tongue, causing him to be unable to stick out his tongue very far, or curve it into the shapes to make clear speech sounds)



7 comments:

  1. I am so glad that you have finally found a solution. It sounds like a previous dentist should of done a better job too. I hope it all goes well.

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  2. Whoa...it really is amazing how all of the issues of his past are all linked together. How utterly fantastic that the new dentist knew what to do!! I know I am pregnant and highly emotional, but still, I started to cry tears of joy when I read this. I am so excited for Jonas! I love that little boy so much. I love the pic of him with his tongue out at the camera. He is so handsome ☺.

    Okay...now I have to go blow my nose...

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  3. Poor Joe! I hate how we trust our lives to professionals and they are lazy and and don't fix things and we never know that something could have been done. I guess it just goes to show ALWAYS get a second opinion.

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  4. Wow! Isn't it insane how sometimes your diagnosis is just the luck of the draw with doctors? One will say one thing and the other will say sometime completely different. I am so glad you were able to go to a new dentist and get some answers for all of those questions and problems! Yeah for all of you! And tell Jonas everyone wishes him good luck with the procedure and to enjoy all that ice cream!

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  5. Wow, I totally hope that helps! Poor kid has sure been through a lot at such a young age. Good thing he tells such good jokes.

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  6. So what did your father-in-law do for a living? I can't believe we never noticed this and had it taken care of when he was still little. I'm glad you are finally getting this corrected and I think your last dentist was incompetent.

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