Bad day at the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) doctor

So to catch you up quickly. Carter has been snoring loudly since he was about 1. I did not think nothing of it but brought it up at his 15 month check up. You could hear him down the hall with his door closed so I thought this may be a problem. They immediately referred us to WONDERFUL Dr. Herrmann at Scottish Rite. He saw us and put Carter on a med to help with the "normal for toddlers but slightly increased" swelling in Carter's nose passages. So it worked wonderfully and still does. We went today for follow up so we could brag about how great it was to not need surgery.

Unfortunately Carter has always been the kid that with every meal you have to tell him to "chew it up", "small bites please", and "take a sip" to help wash down his food. He for some reason has always seem to have problems. A few times as we were introducing new foods he choked to what we thought was really bad. We would have to jerk him out of his highchair and start to do the Heimlich. Great thing was that by the time we got him out he had cleared his own airway. Well this Sunday changed all of that...

In the morning we were having pancakes and Carter wanted some. So I gave him a small one without syrup for him to munch on. (He already had breakfast) Because of the above mentioned I always watch him like a hawk when he is eating. I looked over and he was frozen with tears coming down his face and turning dark red. I realized he was choking. I grabbed him out of his chair and had to do 5 back thrusts of the Heimlich to get the food dislodged and then get it out. He was so scared...so were me and his Daddy. But we remained calm and got him all calmed down. I was a mess. So later that night he is eating chicken at a local restaurant with us and my in-laws and it happens again. I get him out of his seat and by now his lips are blue. I pound on his back again and out it comes. It totally upsets my little man and all of the family. I hate that it happens.

So I tell these 2 stories to Dr. Herrmann today and he says, "That worries me that he is doing this". So we are in process of a work up. Today they sprayed numbing meds down Carter's nose and Scott and the nurse had to hold him still so Dr. Herrmann could look with a tube down Carter's nose, back of his throat, down to his voice box. He was looking for any reason why he has been choking. The results were his nasal passages are swollen so continue the meds for his snoring and expect that after he starts mother's morning out in the fall that it will get worse. Great(insert sarcastic face). He also said that his adenoids are 50%enlarged and his tonsils are moderately enlarged. His voice box is still getting to where it should be. So with all of that he said he doesn't really think that surgery would fix the choking problem. He wants us to do a swallow study. So in the near future, we will go to outpatient radiology at Scottish Rite and have a swallow study done.

I will keep everyone posted on that. Please say a few prayers that Carter doesn't have anymore choking incidents. It really scares me so bad.

On a good note I'm attaching a few pics for your enjoyment! Look at how he is growing so fast! I just love him!!!