Cincinnati

Well.  The last 2 weeks have been a bit of whirlwind.  Literally and figuratively.  Last Wednesday, Coco and Papa's house was destroyed in the tornados hitting North Alabama.  They are very lucky to have only lost their house.  Some of their neighbors didn't survive and I have never been so glad to hug my parents' necks in my life as I was the day after the storms.

We were scheduled to be in Cincinnati to see the AeroDigestive team on May 2nd.  At first, after the tornados, we were going to cancel the appointments.  And then Papa and Coco's insurance was really awesome and they were taken care of and mom may have guilted me in to making sure her preshus Nate was taken care of.  So, we're here.  Seeing specialists, having procedures, hanging out in the hotel.

Nate.  That kid is just full of surprises.  2 weeks ago, his pulmonologist in Birmingham wanted him to have a sleep study there so she would have a baseline of information to talk with the Cincinnati specialists about.   They started the night with Nate off his vent and he did great.  And kept doing great.  He did so great, he stayed off the vent all night.  And they even tried him capped, which is putting a plastic cap on the trach, rendering it useless, making him breathe completely through his nose and mouth.  And he's been capped for 2 weeks.  This is huge.  He hasn't used the trach to breathe at all for the last 2 weeks!  He's been doing so well with it.  Which means he's been a normal nose breather.  For 2 weeks.

So, when we got up here on Sunday night, he was at a place where the team could jump in and reiterate everything his Birmingham doctors have been saying, which is Nate is ready to get rid of the trach.  Not right now, but he will be able to live a life of quality without the trach in the near future.

The plan:  we let Nate get 2-3 colds, good upper respiratory infections, and get through them while being capped.  This will be harder for me than it will be for him.  I'm a germaphobe, I don't do sick well.  The pulm up here said I need to get a glass cover for the trach that says "Break only in case of emergencies". I laughed but inside I was cringing.  How do I let him get sick with out using the trach?!  

Nate will also need to have his tonsils and adenoids removed before the trach is removed.  So we're looking at next Spring for decannulation (trach removal).  Ben and I are both fine with a slow path.  The worst thing in the world would be to get rid of the trach now because he's doing so well, only to have to retrach him this winter when he gets a cold and can't handle it for whatever reason.  The plan we have is a good plan.  A solid, steady plan.  We like solid and steady.

To recap:  Nate's a rockstar.  We're working towards getting rid of the trach next Spring.  Everyone is happy.