Update #2453001

Sorry this update is overdue, but it has been another crazy week. So, here is a quick recap of our doctors appointments on Tuesday.

Plastic Surgery: The scars on Payson's head keep bursting open and becoming raw. So, we are to put ointment on the raw spots and then treat the scars with a body butter lotion while we massage them. This will help the skin stretch when he has plastic surgery in 5 years to remove the scars. Even though we will remove the scars, Payson will always have a scar that is a straight line from the top to bottom. Sometimes this scar can end up as big if not bigger than the original.

Pulminology: Payson finally has his new trach in place. Immediately we noticed a difference in his breathing. It was mush less strained. The pictures tell a thousand words: in the first picture we saw a pinhole of a space for him to breath through. In the second picture we saw a half moon (instead of the normal full circle trachea), which he now breathes through. The downside is that he has developed a lot of secretions requiring suctioning every 30 mins and getting a lot back. Normally he is very dry and we suction him whenever. The sad downside is that his sweet coo and old man laugh we had come to love is gone. He is completely mute. Apparently, the longer trach has reached his tracheomalacia so the trachea seals around the trach thus blocking air from getting to his vocal cords. I have begged the doctor to help us with this and am even tempted to switch back to the old trach. It breaks my heart that I can't hear him. He can't be heard crying, laughing or clicking to get our attention. As he grows this might change.

Hearing/ENT: The big announcement here is he can hear!!!!! Yes, our son can hear us! He has normal hearing for speech, but we still don't know what ranges he can hear us at. Yet, we are focused on the good and he can hear us!!!! ENT said his ears look great and we will just have to follow up in a couple of months.

So, for the most part it is good all around!

We are so thankful to the Lord for giving us some hope when sometimes we are bogged down by all the things wrong! The last couple of weeks have been rough and it was nice to have some highly anticipated good news! Praise be to Him through all blessings flow!