Monday, March 31, 2008

MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

Ever since Aleita's tonsilectomy, she has undergone many positive changes. She sleeps much better at night and wakes much more rested. In the months leading up to her surgery, she was becoming quite the loud little sleeper, and we think, perhaps bordering on sleep apnea. Since her surgery, she has been happier and actually more obedient, we think largely due to the fact that she isn't tired all the time.

Since her surgery, Aleita also doesn't have problems at meals anymore with her food. Again, in the few months leading up to her surgery, Aleita had developed issues when eating. If she took a little bit too big of a bite, she would gag on her food because of the size of her tonsils. Since the surgery, her healthy appetite is there with no more gagging problems.

One of the strangest things that has occurred since her surgery has been her voice change. After a few days when she starting talking more following her surgery, we noticed that Aleita's voice was several pitches higher than it had previously been. I actually had never noticed how deep her voice was until after her tonsilectomy. Now we feel like we are living with a cartoon character at times. Her voice seems almost so artificially high that it seems as though she is trying to be funny - except that this is her voice now. It is taking some getting used to - - it is sometimes even difficult to understand what she is saying due to her new intonation. The doctor said that her tonsils were probably pressing on her vocal cords, which caused her voice to be different than it should have been. With the tonsils gone, we have what is now her "real voice," which seems to us to be an abnormally high pitched squeak. As unbelievable as it may seem, our tough-as-nails, Power Ranger & Spiderman lovin' little four year old now has the dialect of a little cartoon mouse.

2 comments:

Kristin said...

I can't wait to hear that! You should post a video clip so we can all hear the new Aleita.

Julianne said...

Wow! Who knew removing her tonsils could have such a huge impact on her life. Can't wait to hear her new voice!