ENT

June 26

I can hear the boo - hiss of the peanut gallery already...there are no pictures being posted. I just did not think to bring the camera to our first visit to the ENT (ears, nose and throat for those of you not up on medical abbreviations - Big Poppy and I are one of those not in the know). As a reminder (spoiler alert) from our Off The Charts posting, Little Guy is just fine. Any hysteria you read is that of a new mom when big words fly over her head.

When we took Little Guy in for his one month check-up we asked the pediatrician about a lump on the side of his neck. Little Guy had a breech birth and a little shoulder injury from the birth. The shoulder healed just fine and has been moving around without any pain or hindrance. Big Poppy and I asked the pediatrician about the lump on Little Guy's neck out of curiosity on when the lump would go away assuming it had something to do with the breech birth since it was on the same side as the shoulder injury.

Well, you would have thought that we were asking if we could have an ice cream sundae for breakfast. I get that babies have no neck. It's head and body, sometime down the road Little Guy will suddenly sprout a neck and if we are lucky it will not look like E.T. I do expect when giving my little baby a once over, that maybe the pediatrician will check for the first signs of his neck. The pediatrician did not notice the huge lump on Little Guy's neck at all. (She is competent and we like her, we have just learned that if you want anyone to do anything more than what the checklists tell them to do, you need to speak up - hopefully in a nice voice, not a mean voice.)

After an initial once over the hidden neck (I have now learned that babies have necks, the neck is just hidden beneath that cute little head and cheeks), the pediatrician says she is going to get someone else. Hmmm...maybe you should not leave new parents in the room for a loooong period of time alone, with their thoughts, when they can see that you are unsure what has caused the basketball (exaggeration) to form on the side of their precious little baby. That's just my opinion, but what do I know.

Another, more experienced (that does not always mean older but in this case, it does) pediatrician. Our more experienced pediatrician feels around and concludes that she believes it is a branchial cyst but to be sure they are going to refer us to the ENT.

Great, I have no idea what ENT means but get that it is some kind of specialist. Branchial cyst, well that does not sound so good either. I am beginning to think that I need to become one of those people that know everything and worry about everything just so I can keep up with what they are telling me. They do finally tell Big Poppy and I ENT is ears, nose and throat and I feel like a silly (or bad) mom for not knowing this already. We make the appointment for June 26 and go home - were I very quickly googled branchial cyst and confirmed what the pediatricians have told us, that it is nothing serious and can easily be taken care of.

Now Big Poppy and I are sitting in the ENT's waiting room. I'm curious as to what the ENT will do to take care of the cyst. Big Poppy and I can tell that the cyst has been reduced to the size of a peanut now. Maybe it will just go away and we do not need to ever think about it again.

Well, the ENT calls us in. We talk about the potential branchial cyst and he is looking at Little Guy, Big Poppy and I like we have "LIAR" written on our foreheads...or else the ENT is just thinking that Big Poppy and I are parents that run their baby in for everything. He cannot feel the cyst and thinks that the problem is really...

...well we had to wait a good five minutes to hear what the ENT thought while he just sat there and looked at us. I admit, Little Guy was crying and we were trying to calm him down. Little Guy did not like the way the ENT moved his head back and forth. ENT did mention that he was waiting for Little Guy to settle down so we could hear what he was going to say but it was still very uncomfortable sitting there with ENT looking down at us.

A few kisses and whispers settle Little Guy down. Big Poppy and I are anxious to hear what ENT has to say. Well the word starts with a T and for a while that was all I could tell you. Our ENT says that torticollis is likely the culprit of the phantom cyst, which I am quite sure he does not believe ever existed, and the reason Little Guy tracks to the right when looking around.

With a quick referral to the local children's hospital we are off again with assurance that it a minor injury that a little physical therapy and stretching at home will cure. Oh boy, our little boy was so active before birth that he caused an injury to himself that requires some PT. I can hardly wait to see what happens when he is seven!

Big Poppy and I are relieved that it is not the branchial cyst. That would have likely required a same day surgery and that does not sound pleasant for anyone, let alone our Little Guy at such a young age. Now we just wait for confirmation at the children's hospital.

To be continued...