The results from the bronchoscopy showed three areas of concern. His epiglottis is tight and slightly rotated due to the effect of the mass as he was developing. He also has an area of blockage in his trachea below his larynx and right above the stoma for his tracheostomy. The areas of blockage are not complete, but they are obstructing part of Carson's airway. There are surgeries for most of this, but they believe time will fix these issues.
As a result, Carson cannot have his tracheostomy decannulated (or removed) until later. They are unsure of whether it will be months or 1-2 years. It all depends on how he tolerates the obstructions and how fast he grows. They are going to continue to work towards putting him on trach collar 24 hours a day. Then, they will start trials of Passy-Muir speaking valve. Some babies tolerate this well and others do not. Hopefully, we will be able to transition Carson to a Passy-Muir valve, so he can make noise. After that, they will work on weaning Carson to a capped trach, which would require him breathing in and out his mouth. How he will tolerate this is unknown. Even though they won't decannulate the trach now, they will be working towards that goal.
In addition, Carson's right recurrent laryngeal nerve was severed in surgery. We already knew this and as a result his right larynx is paralyzed. They do believe he will still be able to speak, but the quality of his voice may be different.
The plan is still to try to have him out of the hospital in early March. There are many variables, but this is exciting for all of us.
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