1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:21,480 Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Airway First, the podcast from the Children's 2 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,080 Airway First Foundation. 3 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:26,560 I'm your host, Rebecca St. James. 4 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:33,080 My guest today is Kathleen Reddy, wife and mom who is here to share her experience on 5 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:37,120 the airway journey that began with her son, Jubal. 6 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,480 Kathleen and her husband Ryan have been married for 11 years. 7 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:46,400 They have four children with number five on the way and they live in North Idaho. 8 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:52,120 As a family, they enjoy a number of outdoor pastimes in the area and when inside Kathleen 9 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:57,840 is usually pursuing domestic arts in hopes of further blessing her family and her friends. 10 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:05,160 I first heard Kathleen's story when attending a webinar that was being led by Dr. Ben Christensen. 11 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:12,720 Her journey started with her son, Jubal, and is now expanded to include her other children. 12 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:19,760 My hope today is that parents will find inspiration, hope, as well as some really sound advice 13 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,000 from her experience. 14 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,720 So now let's jump into my interview with Kathleen Reddy. 15 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,360 All right, great. 16 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:29,600 Thank you so much for joining us today, Kathleen. 17 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:31,840 I appreciate you being here. 18 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:33,160 Glad to be on. 19 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:34,160 Awesome. 20 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,240 So I'm just going to let our listeners know that today's a little bit different. 21 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,040 Excuse me. 22 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:46,160 Usually we have on medical professionals, luminaries to share information with parents. 23 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:47,920 So today we're mixing it up a little bit. 24 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,280 We have a parent to share information with other parents. 25 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:57,080 So again, just sincerely thank you for being here, sharing all the details, putting yourself 26 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:58,080 out there. 27 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,640 And I know that this will help some other parent that's listening. 28 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:02,640 So thank you. 29 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,200 Well, I'm glad to have you help. 30 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:05,800 So thanks for reaching out. 31 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:06,800 Of course. 32 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:07,800 Of course. 33 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:08,800 So let's just go ahead and start. 34 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:14,120 If you wouldn't mind, just tell us a little bit about you and Jubal and how your airway 35 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,280 journey started. 36 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:17,400 Sure. 37 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:22,600 So my name is Kathleen and I have been a mother now for a little over seven years. 38 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,760 Jubal is our first. 39 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,520 And before becoming a mother, I worked with our local sleep doctor in his practice, taking 40 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,680 notes for him during appointments. 41 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:38,840 And so through that, I did learn a good bit about sleep apnea, airway difficulties, health 42 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:43,480 issues that fall downstream from that. 43 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,160 But I only saw it from the adult side of treatment. 44 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,360 We rarely had children with any kind of difficulties coming in. 45 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:57,200 So Jubal came along, I became a stay at home mother, which was the best job upgrade ever. 46 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:05,440 And he was just always fine, cheerful, chipper, happy little boy, happy, go lucky. 47 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:10,560 And then somewhere along the way, he just started being a little bit harder to wake 48 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,520 up in the mornings, a little bit harder to get going in the mornings. 49 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,120 Just kind of didn't really think anything of it. 50 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,080 It just happened very gradually. 51 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:24,840 And there was just also the fact that children go through growth spurs, children are changing, 52 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,880 things happen that make those things predictable. 53 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:35,240 One thing we often had with him every year, he would have some major, major bout with 54 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,240 Krupp. 55 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,160 Krupp was his nemesis for a very long time. 56 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:46,100 When he was 18 months, he was actually hospitalized for three days for such a bad habit. 57 00:03:46,100 --> 00:03:50,640 And again, it was just one of those things that we never really thought anything of just 58 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,560 up, he's prone to it, some kids are. 59 00:03:53,560 --> 00:04:01,920 And then in my book group with some other moms, one of that group had begun seeing Dr. 60 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,640 Christensen in our area for airway treatment for her children. 61 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:12,320 And so she began sharing some details about the improvements they were seeing on various 62 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:19,080 fronts, and all of these little pockets of sleep related education that I had gotten 63 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:22,960 years back started clicking in my brain. 64 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:28,120 And another mom was saying, oh, my husband saw that same sleep doctor that Kathleen 65 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:34,760 used to work for, and was told that because of his sleep apnea that had been undiagnosed 66 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:40,400 since childhood, like his parents knew about it, had heard of him doing horrible episodes 67 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,000 of not breathing. 68 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,880 He had never been treated for it until after they got married, she basically sent him to 69 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:48,720 the doctor right away. 70 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:53,640 And the doctor told him, you probably should have been taller. 71 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,440 You probably shouldn't have all of these health issues that you have. 72 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:02,140 It would probably have helped if you had gotten the scene a lot sooner. 73 00:05:02,140 --> 00:05:07,460 And so all of a sudden, my brain is taking these two bits of information, the man that 74 00:05:07,460 --> 00:05:15,960 my child may become if this is left untreated, and the fact that we have a doctor, an orthodontist 75 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:22,240 in the area that treats children as soon as the age of three. 76 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,440 So I thought to myself, we are getting in there right now because I had no idea that 77 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,760 you could even do anything for children because I had noticed that Jubal would stop breathing 78 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:30,760 at night. 79 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:32,640 I was like, this is sleep apnea, he's got it, but what are you going to do? 80 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:34,640 Put a kid on a CPAP, like whatever. 81 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:35,640 Exactly, right? 82 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:36,640 Yeah. 83 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:38,120 That's what we all thought. 84 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:39,120 Yeah. 85 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:45,480 And so we popped down to Lewison and Dr. Christensen said, yeah, that jaw, that mouth structure, 86 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:51,640 he, Jubal got my retrognathia setback, fun times mouth. 87 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:55,720 So we started getting him going. 88 00:05:55,720 --> 00:06:01,840 And shortly before our initial consultation with Dr. Christensen, Jubal had had a checkup 89 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:06,400 with our family doctor who just made the offhand comment, man, his tonsils and adenoids are 90 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,160 just huge. 91 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,000 There is no room in that throat. 92 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,440 They're so inflamed and thought to myself, well, good thing we're getting this all checked 93 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,200 out in a couple of days later because I think we're going to have some improvement from 94 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,120 what I hear. 95 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:29,200 And sure enough, we get the first round of expansion begun six days into treatment. 96 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:34,200 I happened to go into the kids bedroom one night for something and I just stood there 97 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:44,240 dumbfounded because I realized for the first time in years, I had to listen for Jubal's 98 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:45,240 breathing. 99 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,640 How far into this was this? 100 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:48,800 Six days. 101 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:50,120 Six days. 102 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:55,840 Six days of having an expander in that we would turn however many times a turn daily, 103 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,360 we were told to push the jaws apart. 104 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,360 And I thought to myself, oh my goodness. 105 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,280 Finally I walk in and he's all raspy. 106 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:09,120 He's all maybe making a cough. 107 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,520 You can tell when he's asleep because you sure. 108 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:13,520 And here I am. 109 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:14,720 Are you fooling me? 110 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:16,880 Are you actually breathing? 111 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:18,680 What are we doing here? 112 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:24,320 And sure enough, he was deep, peaceful, calm breaths. 113 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,880 And it was probably about a week after that I went in again. 114 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:32,920 And not only was it the same deep, calm, peaceful breaths that I had to actually pay attention 115 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:39,960 to here, he was flat on his back, which normally his body would he would never sleep on his 116 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,440 back because he would just choke out way too bad. 117 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:43,440 Right. 118 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:44,440 They have to angle. 119 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:45,440 Exactly. 120 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:50,840 So he's always been my curled up on the stomach kind of sleeper guy because he couldn't breathe 121 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:51,840 otherwise. 122 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:57,960 And I find him sprawled out with maybe a little hint of a to it. 123 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,720 I was just dumbfounded. 124 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:06,680 But then beyond that, in the mornings, that was when we realized how much of our jubile 125 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:12,440 we had lost because we started finding the jubile coming back. 126 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:17,960 So in the mornings, instead of the zombie that would come and sit on the couch and take 127 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:24,920 and 30 to 45 minute period to come fully awake, the zombie that sometimes what would you like 128 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,120 for breakfast would send into a fit because I can't even handle it right now. 129 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:34,160 Don't even talk to me like, wow, that child was gone. 130 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,040 We had no zombie. 131 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,880 And instead we had our chipper happy boy March and I. 132 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:39,880 Good morning, dad. 133 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:40,880 Good morning, mom. 134 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:41,880 What's for breakfast? 135 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,200 And just realizing where have you been? 136 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:50,640 I did not realize we had lost you and how old was he? 137 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,400 When you started this seven in July. 138 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,720 So he probably was just about six when we started. 139 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,560 I think it's been a little over a year that we've had this adventure. 140 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:01,840 Wow. 141 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:07,160 And we watched him go through Rem rebound, which was something I remembered from my 142 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:08,160 scribe days. 143 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:14,240 People would get on CPAP, their bodies would go back into REM because they could breathe 144 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,840 and not choke out all the time. 145 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,720 And so their bodies would go into REM overdrive to make up for lost time. 146 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:27,720 And they would report significant increase in dreams or strange dreams or, you know, 147 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:28,720 very vivid things. 148 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,440 And so it became very normal for a few weeks for Jubal. 149 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,600 Oh, let me tell you about this crazy dream I had last night. 150 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,720 Last time I had two crazy dreams. 151 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,880 So it was a definite change. 152 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:49,400 And he's just gotten more and more alert, awake and just happy. 153 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:54,720 And it's been a huge blessing from something simple. 154 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:55,720 Right. 155 00:09:55,720 --> 00:10:04,160 Are you noticing a change in him when it comes to school or how he engages with other children? 156 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,760 Not so much child engagement. 157 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:12,840 That's always been something that in our family, we try to keep a firm grip on this. 158 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,120 Like you are kind of others, even when you don't feel like it or when you're tired and 159 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,560 something, we all have to work on and learn. 160 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:26,040 So there are things that he was more tempted to perhaps when he was much more sleep deprived 161 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:31,920 and having issues that we would not allow him to get away with, you could say. 162 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:33,560 So that kind of thing. 163 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:34,560 Sure. 164 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,720 Yeah, like we would, we might see those things, but we wouldn't tolerate them. 165 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:45,880 And so I don't know that I would say that we've seen a dramatic difference in that regard. 166 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,120 And we're about to kick off another school year here. 167 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:56,680 And so I anticipate that some of the struggles that we had last year with focusing and, you 168 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:59,440 know, some of his subjects he just loved. 169 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,120 So, you know, like every kid, they love their thing and other things are hard. 170 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:08,680 But I'm hopeful that we'll see some improvement in just the ease with which some of us are 171 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:12,440 loved these concepts are grasped and implemented. 172 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,120 And I just can't, that is amazing. 173 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,160 It's such a difference. 174 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,160 And you're, you're among the fortunate. 175 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,360 I mean, you knew what to do. 176 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:25,400 I've joked before we should change the title of this podcast to you don't know what you 177 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:26,400 don't know. 178 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:27,400 Right. 179 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:28,400 Yeah. 180 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,160 Because his parents, I mean, we had no idea. 181 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,720 But once you know about it, you just can't not know about it. 182 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:37,680 You can't not do something about it. 183 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:43,240 And just to see this kind of transformation is to me, that's proof of what it can do. 184 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:44,240 Right. 185 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:45,240 Yeah. 186 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:50,600 So as, as parents, I mean, what was that like for you and your husband, you know, I guess 187 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:51,720 both sides of it, right? 188 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:58,640 In the beginning, watching your child struggle and have these horrible nights and lethargic 189 00:11:58,640 --> 00:11:59,640 mornings. 190 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:00,640 Yeah. 191 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:01,640 Versus now. 192 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,840 I mean, what, how is that for you guys? 193 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:12,680 It's just a huge relief just to realize that not only was there a big problem that was 194 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:19,760 probably bigger than we realized, but that we were given the opportunity to have it alleviated 195 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:21,680 relatively easily. 196 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:26,960 And you know, you can play what if all day, what if we didn't know what if, and that's 197 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:28,560 just not helpful. 198 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:29,560 Right. 199 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:38,920 And we can honestly say there's a good chance he would have had a lot of issues for a very 200 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:40,400 long time. 201 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:46,320 That would be very difficult to overcome in adulthood if we weren't given the privilege 202 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,080 of finding out about these things when we did. 203 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,920 That's a huge mercy that we were, of course. 204 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:52,920 Yeah. 205 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:58,200 And I think some of the what if is taken away because there's enough research and data to 206 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:00,120 tell you what would happen. 207 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,480 It was just, you know, which one of those would he have had to live with? 208 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:04,480 Right. 209 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:05,480 Exactly. 210 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:06,480 Pick your poison. 211 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:07,480 Exactly. 212 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:08,480 Right. 213 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:09,480 Yeah. 214 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:11,000 Now, have you seen this in any of your other children or? 215 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:17,320 We have our almost five year old with expansion because we looked at her and thought, oh, well, 216 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:22,280 her mouth shape is so much different than his, probably no big deal. 217 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:27,480 And then our first interview with Dr. Christensen with Jubal, some of the things he said, oh, 218 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:28,480 what about her? 219 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:29,480 What about Tilly? 220 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:30,480 What do you think? 221 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,200 And he took a quick look and, ah, no, not as much room in there as we'd want to see. 222 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:34,840 I'm like, well, sign her up. 223 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:35,840 Next. 224 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:36,840 Everybody. 225 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:37,840 That's right. 226 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,520 So we're about to have our three year old start soon because she's much more similarly 227 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:45,320 shaped to Jubal and three is as early as Dr. Christensen takes them. 228 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,280 So we're just kind of lining them up. 229 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:48,280 Right. 230 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:49,280 Oh my gosh. 231 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,880 And I mean, at this point, Jubal's probably too young to really understand. 232 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,600 Does he have any concept of a change? 233 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,720 Does he feel any different that hasn't been able to verbalize that? 234 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:05,440 When it first was happening, definitely, but it's been about a year for him now. 235 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,760 And so I think that for him, that, you know, when you're a child, a year is so long. 236 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:10,760 It's just gone. 237 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:11,760 You don't remember. 238 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:12,760 And so I anticipate that. 239 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:13,760 Yeah, it's just normal. 240 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:14,760 That's exactly. 241 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,720 I anticipate that maybe he could look back and be a little, oh, I remember when it was 242 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:21,760 a little hard to get up in the mornings. 243 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,480 But I kind of guess that that's how it would be for him. 244 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,480 Right. 245 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:27,680 Well, that makes sense. 246 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:28,680 That's awesome though. 247 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:29,680 Yeah. 248 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:37,600 As far as, you know, obviously Dr. Christians, and you were fortunate because you knew who 249 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:38,600 it was. 250 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:39,880 You had somewhere to go. 251 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,600 And there are so many parents we're finding now that there's just not anybody in their 252 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:44,600 area. 253 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:51,120 So I will make sure in a podcast next, we do put the link to this, but your airway health 254 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:54,960 solutions, for example, has a search that you can go find a doctor. 255 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:55,960 Fantastic. 256 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:56,960 Yeah. 257 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:57,960 That's good news. 258 00:14:57,960 --> 00:14:58,960 Absolutely. 259 00:14:58,960 --> 00:14:59,960 It's great. 260 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:06,040 So, you know, what kind of advice could you share with parents that are running into obstacles? 261 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,720 One of the things we hear a lot is, well, I went to my dentist or I went to my pediatrician 262 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,080 and they said, don't worry about it. 263 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,280 They'll grow out of it. 264 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,960 As a parent, what would you say to another parent? 265 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:18,520 Be tenacious. 266 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:19,600 Keep asking. 267 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:20,800 Keep finding. 268 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:22,520 Keep looking. 269 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:31,360 Guide for yourself how far you're willing to drive, how far you can go, and also learn 270 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,320 to trust and be okay with closed doors. 271 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,880 As a parent, you want the best for your child because you love your child. 272 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,520 But you can't always get the best for them. 273 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:50,920 Do your best to get the best, but can you get less, which is better than nothing? 274 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:52,960 So find out what you can get. 275 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,880 If everybody else that is, you know, going to be fantastic, it's too far away to make 276 00:15:57,880 --> 00:15:59,400 the drive. 277 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:04,760 Maybe somebody closer will do at least something part way, which is better than nothing. 278 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:09,120 Maybe there's somebody in your area that would partner with somebody farther away so you 279 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:13,600 could see somebody far away for some initial things and get a treatment plan and maybe 280 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,160 pay somebody closer to do the work and do some intermediary check-ins. 281 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,160 I don't know. 282 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:29,000 Don't take no for an answer, but also learn that we can't always get the yes we wanted 283 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:48,960 and what kind of yes can we get. 284 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:53,960 Learn listening to Airway First with today's guests, Kathleen Reddy. 285 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,920 You can find out more about the Children's Airway First Foundation and our mission to 286 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:03,840 fix before six on our website at childrensairwayfirst.org. 287 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:09,240 The CAF website offers tons of great resources for parents and medical professionals, including 288 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:15,320 videos, blogs, a recommended reading list, comprehensive medical research, podcasts, 289 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,680 and so much more. 290 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:21,280 Parents are encouraged to join the Airway Huddle, our Facebook support group, which 291 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,440 was created for parents of children with Airway and sleep-related issues. 292 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:32,080 You can access the Airway Huddle support group at facebook.com, backslash, groups, backslash, 293 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:33,840 Airway Huddle. 294 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:38,200 Are you a medical professional or parent that is interested in being a guest on the show? 295 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,760 Or do you have an idea for an upcoming episode? 296 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,480 If so, then shoot us a note via our contacts page on our website. 297 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:51,120 Or send us an email directly at infoatchildrensairwayfirst.org. 298 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:56,640 As a reminder, this podcast and the opinions expressed here are not a medical diagnosis. 299 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:01,720 If you suspect your child might have an airway issue, contact your pediatric airway dentist 300 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:03,920 or pediatrician. 301 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:30,480 And now let's jump back into today's interview with our guest, Kathleen Reddy. 302 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:36,200 And then as far as, I'm not sure, I don't want to make this assumption, but it doesn't 303 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:42,080 sound like you had as much guilt and consternation as some parents do. 304 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,600 Because you already had a little bit of a background, so it was a little easier for 305 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,760 you to catch it and transition. 306 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:54,240 But I'm sure you've run into other parents that are, what do you say to them? 307 00:18:54,240 --> 00:19:00,920 You do your best for your child with the data you had at the time you made the decision. 308 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:07,480 And if you didn't have XYZ, that's not your fault. 309 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:16,240 And it's so easy to, again, play what if or, you know, I should have known as well, but 310 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,120 you didn't. 311 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,120 And that can be really hard to accept. 312 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,960 I just didn't know. 313 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:29,840 And I wish I had, I wish I could have done, I wish that this, but it wasn't an option. 314 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,720 And so that's how it was. 315 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:34,920 How are we now? 316 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:35,920 Where are we now? 317 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,080 What can we do now to make tomorrow better? 318 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,800 Because we can't change yesterday. 319 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:48,120 But we can work today, we can work tomorrow, and we can move forward from where we are. 320 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:54,520 So wishing we were over there where we should have been, you know, that wasn't our story, 321 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,720 that wasn't our path. 322 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:02,600 So let's live our story and live our path and be the best we can on that journey. 323 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:03,600 That's fantastic. 324 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,400 Yeah, I could have said that better myself. 325 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,040 And it's hard as a parent. 326 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,920 And I will tell you, you know, working with the foundation and hosting the podcast, even 327 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,360 it's really hard not to do that to yourself. 328 00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:18,360 So yeah. 329 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:19,360 Yeah. 330 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:25,800 Are there, are there any other, you know, changes that you guys have implemented to help support 331 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:31,560 Jules' journey as far as, you know, the exercises or myofunctional therapy or changes in eating 332 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,480 habits or sleep hygiene? 333 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:34,480 Sure. 334 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:39,800 The myofunctional therapy step comes later in Dr. Christensen's treatment plan. 335 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,200 He used to do tongue tie releases and things like that more immediately. 336 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:50,120 And then the therapist that follows his work afterwards told him, you know, I'd really 337 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:55,320 love to have more room in the mouth in order to help these kids work these things, learn 338 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,880 these new habits with their tongue, et cetera, properly. 339 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:08,240 So there are things that will happen later in the myofunctional arena. 340 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:14,560 But for right now, we're doing more upper expansion, once his lower six year molars 341 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:20,760 finish coming through, we'll do lower expansion, make a whole bunch of room in there, start 342 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:27,680 getting that jaw brought forward on the bottom, and then we'll do some tongue tie releases 343 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,200 and the next steps from there. 344 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:36,360 So there are definitely steps to come, but we're just in a little bit of an in-between 345 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:37,360 right now. 346 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:38,360 Which makes sense. 347 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:43,680 But yeah, it was fun though, going to a seven year well child check with our same family 348 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:47,040 doctor who mentioned his huge tonsils and adenoids. 349 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,520 And he looked in there and he said, those are looking way better. 350 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:51,520 Wow. 351 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,640 I said something about the, yeah, I'm really glad we've been doing the expansion. 352 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:56,800 And he said, any more sleep apnea? 353 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:58,520 I said, not a thing. 354 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:00,320 And he said, I think it's a really good thing you did that. 355 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:04,360 You just gave him room for all of that to just grow in properly and just made some more 356 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:05,440 space in there. 357 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:06,440 So. 358 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:11,480 And that was also nice having a family doctor who maybe isn't super familiar with all what 359 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:16,800 all we're doing, but aware enough like, hey, those were huge. 360 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:18,120 Now there's more room. 361 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:19,920 Hey, that's better. 362 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,840 And just having that support there. 363 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:23,840 Yeah. 364 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:24,840 Oh, for sure. 365 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:30,080 And that's another thing we see because so many of them were not trained. 366 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:31,680 They don't know. 367 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,640 So that's not their fault either. 368 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:39,760 But we're so many of them once they hear about it go, Oh, I mean, it is it's life changing 369 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,640 for the medical professionals that find out. 370 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:43,640 Yeah. 371 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:50,640 I mean, I'm excited to see what all is the fallout. 372 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,920 We aren't the only family in our community that goes to see Dr. Christensen. 373 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:59,280 We aren't the only family in our community that uses the same doctor. 374 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,720 You know, who knows how many recommendations get sent down. 375 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:04,720 We don't know. 376 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:05,720 And that's okay. 377 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:10,120 It's not our job is to just do the best with what we have and exactly. 378 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:11,120 Exactly. 379 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:12,520 And share what you can. 380 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:13,520 Yeah. 381 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,240 And that's, and that's what we're doing here, which is amazing. 382 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:24,080 So I want to shift just slightly for a parent that's about to start this journey with the 383 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:30,240 expanders on a day to day basis, you know, how hard is this to manage just so they can 384 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:31,840 kind of set their expectations? 385 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:32,840 Sure. 386 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,280 That's going to depend on the child. 387 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,840 Some children find it painful to have the expansion done. 388 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,720 Some children are fine with it and then it gets more painful later. 389 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,080 That was how my kids were. 390 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:46,880 Jubal and Tilly both started about the same time and I was bracing myself for, Oh, this 391 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:47,880 hurts. 392 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,880 Oh, that kind of thing. 393 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,120 The first handful of weeks they laughed and said it tickled. 394 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:55,120 Okay. 395 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:56,120 Well, great. 396 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:57,600 Take that. 397 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,080 But then as things progressed and things were getting pushed farther apart, then there 398 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,680 was more discomfort with the turning. 399 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:08,040 But it's just one or two turns a day, whatever the recommendation is. 400 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,560 And so you can be tough kid. 401 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,600 I know it hurts. 402 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,720 But if you sometimes we would just, you know, tell them if you're brave and do a good job, 403 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,760 here's a chocolate chip when you're done, you know, like, Hey, there you go. 404 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:26,840 Give them a center for being brave and being cooperative, which is awesome. 405 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:28,200 I love that. 406 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:35,000 So I usually at the end of a podcast, I will turn it over to the guest because, you know, 407 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,680 you guys are why people are tuning in. 408 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:43,920 You're the ones that have lived the tail and have the expertise. 409 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:48,640 Is there anything that you would like to leave with our listeners with other parents at this 410 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:53,040 moment, just a last thought? 411 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:54,840 Fight the guilt. 412 00:24:54,840 --> 00:25:00,840 Any of that lingering guilt over, I wish I could have, I wish I had. 413 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,160 What if none of that is in our control? 414 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:05,800 It's not in our hands. 415 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,800 We know what we know and we do the best we can with what we have. 416 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:15,720 And the guilt and the bitterness, the anxiety, the stress, all of that's really bad for your 417 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:16,720 health too. 418 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:17,720 So that's true. 419 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:26,640 So just let it go and learn to just open your hands, receive what you're given and do the 420 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:32,960 best with what it is and make tomorrow better than today and let yesterday be yesterday 421 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,400 and learn from the mistakes of yesterday and move on. 422 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:37,400 You have. 423 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:43,200 You've said thank you so much for sharing your story and Jubal's story. 424 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,200 I really appreciate it. 425 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:46,200 Kathleen. 426 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:47,200 Yeah. 427 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:48,200 Oh, of course. 428 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:49,200 Of course. 429 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:55,680 Thanks again to today's guests, Kathleen Reddy, for sharing her story and to each of you for 430 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,440 listening to today's episode. 431 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,600 If you're new to our podcast, please don't forget to subscribe. 432 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,640 And if you enjoyed today's episode, leave us a review or comment telling us about what 433 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:07,960 you enjoyed most. 434 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,680 You can stay connected with the Children's Airway First Foundation by following us on 435 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:16,560 Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. 436 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:21,880 You can also join us via our Facebook Parents Support Group, the Airway Huddle, at facebook.com 437 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,760 backslash groups backslash airway. 438 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:30,120 If you'd like to be a guest or have an idea for an upcoming episode, shoot us a note via 439 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:38,200 the contacts page on our website or send us an email directly at info at children's airwayfirst.org. 440 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:42,760 And finally, thanks to all the parents and medical professionals out there that are working 441 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,840 to help make the lives of kids around the globe just a little bit better. 442 00:26:46,840 --> 00:27:15,720 Take care, stay safe and happy breathing everyone.