Tongue Tie

So a few months ago, in the throes of one of this winter's blizzards, I watched an episode of Royal Pains where a little baby had trouble gaining weight. They ran tests and could not figure it out. In the last minute of the episode the doctor figured out the baby had a tongue tie and made some offhanded comment that it's hard to believe a little thing like that could cause so many issues, and issues later in life too. I immediately perked up because, as it turns out, I am tongue tied.

I've known I'm tongue tied my entire life. Doctors would tell me to stick it out and I'd try but it wouldn't go anywhere. I don't like sandwiches because the bread gets stuck to the roof of my mouth and I can't get it off (because my tongue can't reach up there). And eating an ice cream cone presents an interesting challenge. Still, I never thought it was that big of a deal until seeing this episode.

So I started researching and the more articles I read, the more certain I was that I should have mine released. Tongue-ties in adults can cause upper back pain, headaches, and reflux issues (symptoms I have). It can cause snoring, sleep apnea, and speech problems (thankfully I'm not dealing with those).

Midwives used to keep one fingernail long for the purpose of cutting ties when they examined just born babies, but once women moved to having their babies in hospitals, the knowledge was lost. Many doctors nowadays don't know much about ankyloglossia (aka tongue ties) and don't learn about it in school, although it's becoming a more common thing to know. Babies that have trouble feeding and gaining weight are the ones that get checked out for it and have their ties released. Not much is known about the effects a tie has on an adult.

A friend of mine just had her one year old daughter's tie clipped, so I talked to her and got connected with some Facebook support groups. Every adult who comments has said to get the tie released. No one has said they regret the decision.

I did more research, found tongue exercises to do to stretch my tongue out, found an oral surgeon to do the surgery who is covered by my insurance, found a speech therapist who can teach me how to swallow correctly (since I've apparently been doing it wrong my entire life). Tomorrow is the day! I'm getting release at about 10am in Sioux Falls.

I hadn't planned to tell my kids, but it slipped out accidentally. We don't have school the rest of this week (Holy Week), so there was no spelling due. I don't know how the surgery is going to effect my speaking ability for the few days following it. From what I've read, I should be okay, but you never know. So my lesson plans for next week are light on the talking, heavy on the test taking/guest speakers. And just in case my mouth is too sore to talk, I went over their spelling on Monday. That's how it slipped out. They wanted to know why it was so important we do spelling this week if it's not due til next week. I said, 'because I might not be able to talk much next week'. Of course that led to 'why' which led to a discussion and an explanation. But I'm glad I told them.

I got nervous about the release Monday night. I prayed about it, but the nervous worry was lurking. After they found out, one of my kiddos asked me if I was nervous at all. I admitted that I had been. A different one said the best thing, "You gotta trust God. He'll take care of you. Just pray about it and it'll be good." If that doesn't warm your heart, I don't know what will! A few of them added me to their popcorn prayer at the end of the day today and yesterday. And one of them added me to the chapel prayer list this morning.

That was interesting. Some of the younger kids only heard 'surgery' and 'tongue'. The 3rd grader sitting next to me asked, "They're going to cut out your tongue?! Don't you need it?" Uh, yes, yes I do. A few other kids asked me what was wrong with it and if I had to have the whole thing taken out. The 7-8th graders and I had a good talk about it during science class. I'm doing my own science experiment on myself! It's been really interesting to realize the different ways my tongue can move (ways I hadn't known were possible before stretching it) and how it's supposed to be compared to how my tongue has been compensating. It's made my students more aware of their tongues too, comparing what they do to what I do.

So. I brought a bunch of soft foods with me to Fulda. I have popsicles in the freezer and tea in the cupboard. My friend gave me some essential oils to use for pain relief. I saw the chiropractor this afternoon to get my muscles loosened up. And the rest is in God's hands!