| Corey's Surgery Updates Continued |
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| 6/25/04 - Corey had another Bronchoscopy on Tuesday the 22nd. It showed that the scarring from two weeks ago had not gotten any worse. The doctor was able to see that the scarring was a mature scar and not likely to get worse, so he went ahead and downsized Corey's trach. Last weekend Corey had been able to wear his speaking valve most of the day and now with the smaller trach he can easily wear it all day. It has been fun to finally be able to listen to him without worrying about his breathing. We have a follow-up appointment with the ENT on July 7th where we will likely cap off Corey's trach to see if he can breathe completely through his nose and mouth. Thank you for your prayers regarding the scarring and it looks like we may not need any more surgical intervention to get his trach out! |
| 7/10/04 - Corey did so well with the speaking valve that we called the doctor about capping the trach earlier. He was capped all day starting Monday the 28th. We had an appointment with the ENT on July 7th and he was pleased with Corey's progress, so he wanted to downsize further and set a decannulation date. Corey's decannulation date is August 16th. We are to continue capping until then and even start capping at night. Last night was our first night capped and Corey did great! We have also finished our night nursing and moved Corey into his room. ?It feels great to have our privacy back!!!! |
| 8/20/04 - Corey is decannulated!!!! The trach came out on August 16th at around 8:30am. We stayed the night in the hospital so that they could watch him and were sent home the next morning. He did well his first night and has been doing well since. Our biggest problem is that we are supposed to keep an airtight dressing over the trach hole so that it will heal and it is causing problems with his skin. We may try some different types of dressings to see what might work. Thank you for all your prayers, they certainly worked! In other news...Wednesday night Jennifer (Foof) was cooking and got a 3rd degree grease burn on her right arm and hand. She has some small second degree burns on her left arm and left leg. She went to the Burn Unit at St Joseph Hospital here in Fort Wayne. They cleaned her up and she was able to come home. She is staying with us and we are getting her to doctor's appointments and helping with dressings, etc. She is scheduled for surgery to have skin grafts put on her arm on Wednesday at 4:30pm. They will take skin from her upper thigh and graft it to her arm. Please pray that surgery goes well and that recovery is not too painful. |
| 9/7/04 - Corey continues to do well without his trach. Last Monday our equipment company took away Corey's pulse ox, oxygen, and other medical equipment. So that Monday night was his first night without anything attached to him. It was a little scary at first, but what a great milestone! We are continuing to put bandaids over his stoma hole because it is still open. Corey saw the ENT on September 1st and he was pleased with the healing that the stoma is doing and will not do surgery to close it until at least three months after decannulation. ?We continue to work on speech and eating. He makes slow progress every day. Corey also went in a little pool yesterday for the first time. We wrapped everything we could find around his neck to keep water from getting in his hole and he did great. He loved splashing around and playing with water toys. About Jen...Her skin graft surgery went well on the 25th and she is now back at college. |
| 12/1/04 - Corey is doing fine without his trach. He had surgery to close his stoma on November 9th. Initially there was some issues with air being trapped under the incision, but that has resolved on its own. We went to Traverse City and Bear Lake for Thanksgiving and he had a great time. Unfortunately, the day after we got home we found out that Corey has a lung infection. He is doing surprisingly well with it and is managing his secretions fine on his own. |