Answers

Ok, now that we are back from the pediatrician appointment, I can spill the beans on what we found out. Let's start with the visit to the ENT:

We had about a 20 minute visit with him (it was the quickest doctor appointment ever!), and he checked Christian over thoroughly. Although Christian's tonsils/adenoids were still swollen, they weren't anything like what we saw last Monday. The doctor asked about his strep/tonsilitis history, and we told him that Christian has been pretty healthy for about a year now--that is, until his whole Scarlet Fever episode last week. The doctor said that since he has only 1 documented case of strep in the past 12 months, that isn't enough to warrant immediate removal. He said that he prefers to see at least 4 documented strep cases in a child before rushing them in for surgery. We then discussed the snoring/gasping at night, and he said Christian definitely has sleep apnea. He explained that some doctors are becoming more aggressive in removal of tonsils for that very reason, and that in children with ADHD, it has a profound effect on their behavior when they get better sleep at night. Of course, Christian hasn't ever been diagnosed with ADHD, but he does suffer from "typical 4 year old orneriness" on a regular basis. :) John asked if Christian would ever grow out of the sleep apnea--like maybe down the line he would grow in to his tonsils and it all resolve itself without surgery. The doctor said that was possible.
Basically, he left the decision up to us. He gave us the pros and cons for removal, and he told us to go home, think about it, and get back to him in the future. John has never been "pro-removal," so just knowing that it's quite possible Christian will outgrow the sleep apnea was enough to put his mind at ease. I'll admit that I came out of the ENT's office a bit frustrated. I had gone in there with the expectation that he would say either "YES, let's take them out," or "No, he's fine. Let's leave him alone." I felt like the weight of that decision was resting on my shoulders now, and I didn't want to be the one to have to decide whether or not his sleep apnea is bad enough to warrant surgery. Knowing full well that we had a follow-up visit with the pediatrician this morning, we decided to just visit with him about it and go from there.

Ok, that brings us to the pediatrician visit this morning:

We actually saw the nurse practitioner again, and she is extremely nice. I informed her that we had sought a 2nd opinion and she was very supportive of that decision. In fact, she said that they send lots of patients to the ENT that we had chosen, and that his opinion was a valuable one in helping us make our decision. She checked Christian over again, and she did say his tonsils were still a bit swollen and irritated, but they weren't infected. As we were visiting, Christian had coughed a couple of times and was wiping his nose with his hand. She noticed that and asked if we had ever addressed his allergy issues. Well, no--we hadn't. Christian has been on Zyrtec and Claritin before, but neither seemed to do much good. The nurse practitioner made the decision to put him on a combination of Singular (it was originally marketed for asthma, but has found to be a better allergy med) and Zyrtec at bedtime, just to see if it makes a difference. She said he has the typical "allergy shiners" which are the dark circles under his eyes. When I told her that he always has those, she said that she thinks he suffers from severe allergies. That in and of itself could explain the swollen and irritated tonsils--all of the drainage coming down his throat and the stopped up nose could also be the cause of the breathing problems at night.
I was thrilled that now I possibly had answers to my questions. I don't ever want to have to put my child through unnecessary pain, and it was really bothering me that I might quite possibly have to make a decision like that--as informed a decision as it would be. Anyway, we will try the Singular/Zyrtec combo for a month and then get back to the nurse practitioner with the results.

Thank you ALL for your thoughts, prayers, and support during this crazy week of sickness and doctor appointments. Thank you also for loving on Christian--that means more to us than any of you will ever know!