She's my hero!

Lydia got some relaxation meds and was feeling good by the time we said goodbye.   She could hardly hold her head up on the bed when they wheeled her off. Away she went with her puffy bed head bouncing.

Her ear tube was replaced on the left side. The right side looked good.  Her bronchoscopy looked good, just a bit of granulation tissue above trach which will be removed later.  I have pictures if you want to see her airway and trach from the inside! 

Lydia has been wearing her cap all day, which is a huge step towards decannulation.  Dr. Arganbright said we can think about doing a sleep study in 2 to 3 months so that her repair can fully heal.  She also noticed that Lydia's tonsils are big and she'll probably want to take them out to open her airway more. All this puts us at September or October for a sleep study. Guess what folks? That's too late for decannulation this year.  Dammit.  We will most likely have to wait out the winter and deacannulate in the spring.  There is still a slight chance we could fast track it before winter.   More on my feelings about this later...I'm pretty bummed right now.

Everything with the palate repair was textbook and routine! She will be swollen and uncomfortable for awhile, but should bounce back pretty quick.  Her mouth is pretty raw and sensitive so nothing can go in it for at least 2 weeks... maybe this will make her want to drink water! All her stitches are dissolvable.  We just heal up and wait for our follow up visits with ENT and plastic surgery.

We are waiting out the afternoon in a surgical observation unit before we can move to the second floor surgical wing. Lydia came off the vent and was breathing on her own right away so we've skipped over the picu. That's very good news.  She's pretty cranky and has been asleep for the most part.   Her mouth is pretty gnarly and her secretions are bloody due to the drainage.  She's  sleeping the afternoon away on oxycodone, Tylenol, and some breathing treatments to keep her airway from swelling. I'm getting in some serious snuggles.