End of the tunnel

We are almost there.  One week to go before John says "goodbye" to his trach.  Boy, what a long journey it has been.  I can honestly say there were times when I thought he would have it forever.  I never thought it would be possible to get rid of that thing.  But here we are.  One week to go!

Time really has gone by quickly.  When we met with the doctor in July of last year and made this plan for the spring, it seemed so far away.  And then before we knew it, it was 6 months later and we were setting a date.  And even then, we were a little more than 2 months away and it still seemed like a long ways off.  But here we are, just one week out and it's basically consuming my every thought.

This coming Wednesday, John will go to the hospital for a routine airway check.  We do these every year anyway, so it's not a big deal for us.  They will put him under anesthesia and use a scope to look at his airway.  They are checking for any kind of granuloma tissue that may have grown there over the last year.  Only one time has there every been anything there, and it was easy to remove.  Once it is determined that the airway is clear and there is nothing blocking airflow, we will be set.

Monday, April 6, which is the day after Easter, John will be admitted into Texas Children's Hospital.  The first night there, he will sleep with a cap on his trach.  This means he will have to do all of the breathing on his own.  There will be no vent there for support.  Then on Tuesday, April 7, if all goes well the night before, they will remove the trach.  This is not a surgical procedure.  They simply untie the trach tie and remove the trach from his neck.  We do this at least once a month at home to give him a new, clean trach.  They will then put a bandage over the hole.  Then he will spend one more night in the hospital so they can monitor his first night of sleep in over 9 years without a trach to help him breathe.  If everything goes according to plan, we will come home on Wednesday and begin working to settle into a new routine.

For those of you who want to know how you can help, please pray for these things:

1.  Pray that his procedure this week goes well with the anesthesia.  I have no reason to think it won't, but any time anesthesia is involved, you get a little worried.

2.  Pray the first night in the hospital is a good night and he is able to tolerate the cap on his trach as much as possible.

3.  Pray that once the trach comes out, he will be rid of it for good.  We do not want to ever have to put it back in.

4.  Pray for a smooth transition once we get back home.  It will take some time to settle into a new routine, especially during the night.

5.  Pray for Tommy and I to be at peace with whatever the outcome will be.

6.  JT has been congested for a little more than a week.  Pray the congestion goes away before next Monday.  It will be easier for him to sleep with his trach capped if his nose isn't stuffy.


Thank you to everyone who has continued to support us and pray for us through the years.  No words can explain how much the love and support we have been shown has carried us through some really tough times.  I can't wait to update in a week with wonderful news and hopefully some post trach pictures.