'Little People, Big World’s Zach and Tori Roloff Reveal 4-Year-Old Daughter's Medical Diagnosis
Tori and Zach Roloff with their children, Jackson, Lilah and Josiah
Zach and Tori Roloff's 4-year-old daughter, Lilah, finally has an explanation for the problems she's had sleeping.
The Little People, Big World stars opened up about her new diagnosis on the most recent episode of the TLC series, according to Us Weekly, revealing that, after reviewing results from a recent sleep study, doctors have determined she's suffering from a “moderate form of sleep apnea,” a disorder that causes a person to stop breathing while sleeping. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a sufferer's "brain tries to protect [them] by waking [them] up enough to breathe," leading to restless nights of sleep that can cause "serious complications" long-term.
Her father also said they anticipate a tonsillectomy in the future, after which, "supposedly...the apnea goes away.”
In addition to obtaining the diagnosis, the sleep study looked to see if it would be "safe" to put Lilah under anesthesia for the procedure. “[People with dwarfism's] airways are built slightly different than other people, and there is maybe a higher threat of something going wrong,” Zach explained during the episode.
The necessity didn't make the procedure any less nerve-wracking, with Zach pushing down his own nerves to comfort Lilah ahead of time. “I keep telling her that they’ll put stickers all over her head and, you know, you’re gonna have a nurse there and things like that, so I hope she has a good idea, but who knows with her,” he said before the study. “She gets it in her head and then she gets scared, and then she has a hard time recovering.”
