we have a date

Caelan had a recent appointment with ENT... Actually it was right after we brought Ronan home from the hospital so about a month ago now...

That appointment was part of the Complex Upper Airway Clinic and we discussed the failed attempt at removing Caelan's trache back in October 2011.  Ultimately our goal is to try and remove the trache again with better results. 

We were encouraged to try and get Caelan wearing his swedish nose and speaking valve as much as possible to strengthen his breathing, especially since he does such a great job blocking it with his finger.

At the end of the appointment they did a scope and found that the upper airway seemed smaller than previous scopes had indicated.  In fact they thought the adenoids were quite enlarged and a plan was put in place to remove them and Caelan's tonsils.

The phone call came today.  April 23rd Caelan will be going into surgery yet again, this time to remove his adenoids and tonsils in an attempt to open that upper airway so that hopeful one day he will be able to breath without his trache.

My concerns are a plenty.  Surgery is always a big deal, regardless of how many he's had to go through.  More specifically though, opening up his airway is a delicate balance.  We want it open enough that he's able to breathe comfortably, but not so open that he aspirates easily.  He already produces copious amounts of secretions and I'm a little worried about where they're all going to go with a new wide open airway.

The good news is that they're optimistic that this will be a one night stay. 

Can't say we've had too many of those!