Sleep Study/ Cranial Facial Update

We had an appointment with another cranial facial surgeon in Austin for a second opinion regarding Cade's soft palate and swallowing difficulties. I was hoping for a quick fix but of course that was not the case. This doctor thinks Cade's palate does need to be fixed eventually but not now. He still feels Cade is a huge surgical risk due to his small jaw and low muscle tone. He also believes that Cade's swallowing problems are due more to muscle tone than to his soft palate anatomy. He noticed that Cade has partial paralysis on one side of his palate which he assumes continues down the muscles of the throat. He recommended VitalStim therapy which uses electrical external stimulation combined with traditional swallowing therapy. His hope is that the extra stimulation will strengthen Cade's muscles. We have had a difficult time finding this therapy but will hopefully begin that soon with Himmel Home Health.
Another issue that concerned the doc was that Cade had never in his life had a sleep study. He said a kid as risky as Cade, especially a kid who had a trach and then a trach that was removed required a sleep study. So Cade and I signed up to stay the night at Dell Children's Hospital.
We went around bedtime in our pajamas. They had me put Cade to sleep and then tried to hook up electrodes to his face, chest and legs. They monitor things such as breathing, oxygen saturation, leg movement, etc. This study was mainly to determine if Cade was having periods of apnea. Cade did not like being hooked up and pulled the electrodes off many times during the night. We did not get much sleep. We have only heard unofficial results but everything was fine. I hope we don't have to repeat this little study any time soon!