We had our ENT appointment today...thanks to Dr. Ponytail for getting us in and shaving 3 weeks off the waiting period!  Savvy had a cold...big deal right?! Well, it has been 8 weeks and she can't kick it.  No longer a cold (officially after  7 days).  The doctor asked her if she wanted to sit on mommy's lap and she said, "big girl"...she sat on this big chair and he asked her again...she was so brave.  She sat perfectly still for the first scope but the second time he went up the second nostril hurt and it hurt her bad.  The numbing spray did not have the same effect or he had to go in deeper..not sure .. but it was not good! The tears...it was tough...I tell him she has had an NG tube and is freaking like when I had to insert it ..take it out.  Well, long story short Savvy's adenoids are huge.  The issue will not resolve itself. This doctor seems to be good...he is a former CHOP doctor (whoot whoot! and it was so clear to me that he was a CHOP doctor when later in the appointment I asked him if I should keep Savvy home...his response, "You can't raise her in a bubble"...such a CHOP response!) and tells me he works with a lot of transplant kids.  So, he says "I am used to parents"...I smile and fill in the blank "that are bossy and want to know every detail about why you made the decision you made?"...he smiles and tells me he has two options and neither is right or wrong and both can be fine or go bad....AUGH!

First option...put Savvy on antibiotics again (this would be her 3rd course in 8 weeks for the same condition) for 3 weeks and then do a CAT scan at the end of the 3 weeks.  Not liking this option because as we discussed Savvy has a long road in front of her with "bumps" and to continue antibiotic treatment which may or may not work increases the chances that she will become resistant to the antibiotics in the future (and may hinder her in the future).  CAT scans are great diagnostic tools but I can not express to you the amount of scans with radiation exposure that Savvy has already had and she is only 3...of course, if necessary we will do it as we have done every other Xray, and diagnositic scans but if we can avoid the exposure...then that is a choice I will make.

Second option...put Savvy on a nasal spray which will take 2 weeks for it to work this should shrink the nasal passages and allow the "gunk" to come out.  It should also help with her snoaring (she wakes up everynight at this point for the past 8 weeks...yup...we are tired!).  This is the least invasive BUT if she were to develop "anything in the next 2 weeks it will be funky"...not good...not good.  Hearing "funky" come out of your doctor's mouth...not good...

I went with option 2.  The plan is to monitor her closely (as if I don't already) and if she develops a fever he is to be called asap and Savvy is to be brought in.  PLEASE, do not think that I took this decision lightly and did not discuss in more detail then I am writing about on this blog with the doctor...I have to say that at times I question whether or not to write our medical decisions for Savvy because I will get a well intentioned person send me a note saying..."I would have done the opposite"....well....I KNOW if Savvy gets sick in the next 2 weeks it will be bad.  I also KNOW that I have placed her at risk but the risk to the other option are just as real and could be even more devastating for her....either way ... it sucks.  I will only know in hindsight if it was the right decision...and TRUST me when I say that NO ONE will be more devastated then I if I made the wrong one...no one...

The doctor tells me that she has a ton of junk in her nose...and I tell him that this is one of the better days she has had in 8 weeks...

Savvy fell asleep on the car ride back...she was so happy going into the appointment since I promised her juice and corn chips for after the appointment....it was too much for even this "big girl" to handle.