The trouble with 'noids

... not to be mistaken with "the trouble with 'roids"...

Will's ENT appointment this week revealed the source of his perpetual sinus infections and congestion! But before all the snotty details, the backstory...

We went to our first ENT back in August, when Will started showing signs of regular congestion. He had his g-tube placed in his stomach in June, and typically a g-tube will cause a child to have increased acid reflux. In some cases, excessive acid reflux can cause nasal congestion. So post-g-tube surgery, we ran the gamut of antacids. Will was still getting congested.

So we went to the ENT in August. After waiting in the waiting room for almost 2 hours, we were finally seen by a clearly tired and agitated ENT. Her prognosis: your son has very small nasal passages. Try this nasal steroid and come back in 2 months if there is no change.

Um... yeah right.

Since August, Will has had 4 sinus infections which have been successfully treated with antibiotics. Clearly we're dealing with a bacterial issue, not a nasal passage size issue!!

We got another recommendation for a pediatric ENT, and saw him this past Thursday. He evaluated Will thoroughly and determined that Will needs to have his adenoids removed. Apparently adenoids are known to harbor bacteria. Some people's bodies can fight it, others can't.

Interestingly, Nate had adenoid and throat infection issues when he was younger, and had his adenoids removed after high school (aside from a deviated septum, he's been much better ever since). We aren't sure if adenoid issues are genetic, but at least Nate will have an adenoid-less buddy at the dinner table from now on.

So Will's looking at a 30 minute surgery in the next couple of weeks. We're praying this does the trick. He'll have a sore throat for about a week, but the ultimate result will be great! He won't be perpetually congested (when not on antibiotics) and won't gag nearly as much!

My hope is that this will also help with his weight gain... Will is still predominantly bottle fed because of his swallowing issues. When you can't breathe through your nose, its hard to bottle feed. Additionally, when he's really congested, he gags and vomits a lot (he doesn't vomit at all anymore when he isn't congested). Pediasure on the floor does not a fat toddler make!

Photo freak out

One of the things they recommend you do while on bedrest is organize your photos. As many of you know, I am an avid scrapbooker (when I have the time and ability) and therefore, have many photos that have yet to find their way into a scrapbook.

I was recently admiring some of the photos from our trip to the Outer Banks in September. I blogged about that trip (see Peace post) but didn't use all of our photos on the blog. Anyway, I was looking at this photo of our day trip to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

Nate took this photo from the bottom of the lighthouse steps before we began our long ascent to the top. He thought the photo would be cool and artistic.

As I looked closer at this photo, I started to get freaked out a little bit. Maybe I have seen too many episodes of Paranormal State and Psychic Kids on the A&E channel, but to my untrained eye, it appeared as though there was some type of... figure... at the center of the stairs. The lighthouse is more than 100 years old, afterall. It could be haunted.

Thank goodness for Adobe Photoshop. If you look below, the figure at the center of the steps is actually another guy who thought that taking a photo from the top of the lighthouse looking down through the stairs AFTER his ascent would be a cool photo op! Totally random that this guy and Nate had the same thought at the same time though!

I wonder if they see Nate in their photo and are as silly as me!