Abby has surgery tomorrow to get her third set of tubes put in her ears. Here's hoping this set stays a little longer and helps with the fluid so that her hearing will improve. Third time's the charm, right?!
Side note: the hearing loss is definitely becoming more noticeable, and it is affecting her speech more now too. She's starting to lose some sounds, we think. :( So hopefully having clear ears will help her to be able to hear everyone better and mimic the correct speech sounds.
While ear tubes are very simple to put in and make for a very easy surgery, any time under anesthesia is a big risk for Abby. This will be the first time that she will be put under without having a trach. What's the big deal? Well, trach = stable airway. No trach = unstable airway. Abby can't be intubated the regular way that most people can. It takes a specially-trained anesthesilogist to do a fiberoptic nasal intubation. And it's never been done on her to know for certain that it can be done. Can you feel the anxiety level rising?!
Funny...as I was typing this, ENT called to confirm the surgery time tomorrow. I shared my anxiety level and the nurse practicianer reminded me that Dr. T is so protective of her airway and that he is the #1 guy to do fiberoptic nasal intubations. I'm SO thankful for our ENT! And just when I was starting to feel very anxious, God sent me a little reminder that we are in very capable hands.
We would love your prayers tomorrow. Her surgery is scheduled for 7:00 a.m. (in case you are unfamiliar to hospital time, that really means 10:00 a.m.!) and should be a very quick one. If all goes well, we should be able to head home by the early afternoon!
Side note: the hearing loss is definitely becoming more noticeable, and it is affecting her speech more now too. She's starting to lose some sounds, we think. :( So hopefully having clear ears will help her to be able to hear everyone better and mimic the correct speech sounds.
While ear tubes are very simple to put in and make for a very easy surgery, any time under anesthesia is a big risk for Abby. This will be the first time that she will be put under without having a trach. What's the big deal? Well, trach = stable airway. No trach = unstable airway. Abby can't be intubated the regular way that most people can. It takes a specially-trained anesthesilogist to do a fiberoptic nasal intubation. And it's never been done on her to know for certain that it can be done. Can you feel the anxiety level rising?!
Funny...as I was typing this, ENT called to confirm the surgery time tomorrow. I shared my anxiety level and the nurse practicianer reminded me that Dr. T is so protective of her airway and that he is the #1 guy to do fiberoptic nasal intubations. I'm SO thankful for our ENT! And just when I was starting to feel very anxious, God sent me a little reminder that we are in very capable hands.
We would love your prayers tomorrow. Her surgery is scheduled for 7:00 a.m. (in case you are unfamiliar to hospital time, that really means 10:00 a.m.!) and should be a very quick one. If all goes well, we should be able to head home by the early afternoon!
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