We saw the more specialized pediatric ENT down at Scottish Rite yesterday. Based on what we told him and what he saw, he feels that Ella should grow out of the tracheomalacia by 2-3 years of age. He had some concern that the condition could be caused by a heart or artery defect putting pressure on the trachea, but he called the radiologist at Northside to have them check the fluoroscopy images and fortunately ruled that out. The only thing we really need to be careful of is when she gets chest congestion during a cold. The heavier she has to breathe, the more the trachea will collapse and we could end up in the hospital with her. The doctor was glad we don't have to leave her in daycare, because she should be less likely to catch as many colds. He does prefer to follow these types of cases, so we have another appointment in 2 months just to make sure nothing is worsening.
Jamie also talked to her pediatrician after we got all of these results. Now that we have the tracheomalacia diagnosis, she was less concerned about getting the MRI done. I don't think she told us this before (probably to avoid planting any panic seeds in our brains), but one possible symptom of hydrocephalus is vocal cord palsy, so it was possible that Ella's honking noise was due to pressure on a particular nerve due to fluid build-up in the brain. Now that we know that isn't the cause of the honking (and given what happened during the sedation at the last MRI attempt) she just wants to have her come in for a quick head measurement check. If her head hasn't had any significant growth then we will just keep an eye on things and recheck it again at her 1 year appointment in January. If it has gotten bigger, though, she will most likely want to do the MRI. The head measurement appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Kaylee's audiologist appointment is Monday of next week, so we will hopefully have definitive plans for both girls by the middle of next week.
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