Molly got her trach yesterday. The surgery itself only took about 45 minutes. The surgeon also did a bronchoscopy to take a look at her airway. Kids who have been intubated a long time can have scarring, narrowing, all kinds of stuff. Other than a little swelling from the ET tube, Molly's airway looked great. This is good news when it comes time to decannulate (have the trach removed). Post-op, she is doing pretty good. The vent settings are up, which is expected. She is on a fentanyl drip for pain and sedation. She is also on very minimal stimulation. The idea is to keep her as still and comfortable as possible for the first few days. The stoma needs about 5 days to allow the tract to form. After 5-7 days the ENT surgeon will do the first trach change. After that, Tim and I start to learn how to do trach cares and changes. We are actually scheduled for our first trach class next Friday at 11:00am. They encourage us to dive right in which is what we intend to do!
Pictures are right before surgery and after.
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