My son had tongue reduction surgery at 8 months old.  His tongue protruded significantly and he drooled uncontrollably.  Luckily, however, he did not have airway or eating problems.  Everywhere we went, people would say, "oh he's so cute, he's sticking his tongue out at me."  It drove my husband and I crazy.

The surgery was a huge success and we were very happy we did it.  We did have a major set back, however, that I'll mention.  He was released after two days in the NICU and allowed to have a bottle which we later discovered was much too soon.  One day after we were home, the tongue split apart (it was horrifying) and our surgeon was in Greece.

Timmy was readmitted to the hospital and his tongue was stitched back together, however, this time he stayed in the hospital for over a week and he was sedated the entire time so that there would be no tongue movement.  We never gave him the bottle (ever again) after the second time because of the suction factor.  Because he was sedated for so long, by the time we got home, the pain was gone, he was just tired.

Timmy is now three and I have an appointment with his surgeon tomorrow (the one who put his tongue back together) because his tongue is still very thick and it does protrude and push his lower lip down when he is playing and sleeping.

One more side note...the first surgeon (the one who was in Greece when the tongue let go) didn't give us a detailed explanation of the surgery before Timmy went under.  He had never done this type of surgery before but had gathered extensive info. from another surgeon who had.  He never returned calls from myself, Timmy's PCP or his Early Intervention counselor.  When I told Timmy's PCP that I  had reservations about this surgeon (for those reasons only), he said, "well people say he's the best so stick with him". I have vowed not to ever ignore my gut feelings again.  If I ever feel uncomfortable with a new physician (and we see many), I get another referral. There are enough qualified physicians out there to find someone you are completely comfortable with.  I switched to another surgeon in the same office and I am much more comfortable with my choice.

Another side note...my son has since had surgery for undescended testicles and at that time we had just read about giving children a sedative before going into the operating room for surgery.  We discussed it with his surgeon who agreed the use of a sedative could not hurt.  We've done it for every surgery that followed and will continue to do so.  It keeps them from having to see those scary masks in the operating room and having the horrible memories of surgery.  Please don't hesitate to e-mail me at Kimmbaa111@aol.com.

One more thing...Many parents are not familiar with Early Intervention and are not told about it by their children's Pediatrician.  See if it's available in your state.  If you feel your child has any developmental set backs, you can call yourself (you do not need a physician's referral) and your child will be evaluated immediately.  Your child  has a right to this state run program from birth to age 3.  Don't wait.  If you don't have insurance, [where I live] the state picks up the tab.

Kim
May 2000