Pediatric Sleep Apnea & More

Okay, it is beyond pediatric sleep apnea now. Wonder Boy (his sidewalk chalk work in the photo above) has been on the CPAP machine (and compliant) for the better part of 2 months... We have been struggling with the sleep issue for a while now. He has gone along with us (kicking and screaming) and he is still really tired. The poor kid just drags. Picture Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. He has a heck of a time falling asleep and a HELL of a time getting up in the morning. He drags himself through most days and has become quite the absent minded professor. You would be absent minded too if you were not getting any restful sleep. I was a mess prior to getting diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea... I feel for him.

Unfortunately, Wonder Boy is special. His sleep apnea only kicks in during REM sleep and his body has compensated by reducing the amount of REM sleep he gets. Basically, his body won't let him get into much REM. REM sleep is your most restorative sleep. It is a wonder this kid is doing as well as he is... and this is his worst semester EVER. (I think the sleepiness is not helping with the absent minded professor thing he already had going... he does the work, then forgets to hand it in.)

So today Hubby took Wonder Boy back to the sleep specialist today for a heart to heart. We needed to get to the bottom of this so I made Hubby go. The truth is that I felt really guilty about how long it has taken to get Wonder Boy to use the CPAP, I felt too guilty to face the doctor since I'm the bad mom who missed the last appointment. Yep, I bit the bullet and let Hubby face the sleep specialist, I was too ashamed.

Well, apparently a small percentage of kids like Wonder Boy don't respond to CPAP treatment (you know, that sleep machine that helps you keep breathing). These kids are given Ritalin. RITALIN. Sure, that freaked me out. But, apparently Ritalin helps kids like Wonder Boy because it has an opposite affect than we would expect -- it wakes them up during the day when they need to be awake. He is going on a very small dose (7mg in the AM, 3mg in the afternoon). The hope is that Wonder Boy can function more normally day side, get physical activity going, wear himself out like a normal person, and then sleep better at night. Who knew Ritalin was used to treat narcolepsy? The wonder of the Internet never ceases... I don't think the sleep specialist mentioned NARCOLEPSY to my husband... it is unlikely in my professional medical opinion.. but I will do the next consult and find out if this is the diagnosis....

We start the medicine the day after tomorrow (big testing at school tomorrow, so we thought it better to start on a non-testing day). Please say some prayers for Wonder Boy. He has been less and less active these last 2-3 years... I know the sleep issues are part of it. He will have to change his ways and be more active. I will help him... I hope the medicine does too. Maybe he and I can lose our extra weight together. So pray for him please... that this is the answer. He deserves to feel rested and happy again... he has been such a trooper that it took us a while to figure out the problem. May this be our solution...

And now to change gears...... Here is the drive I took to cheer myself up and forget my worries:



Have I mentioned how much I love the fall?