Jax has surgery tomorrow. We’ll be up and at ’em early. Like, really early: 4:00am…that’s practically bedtime! We check in at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis at 6:00am. Surgery is scheduled for 7:30am. This one is the “easy” one: ear tubes and a bronchoscopy and laryngoscopy. The procedures will take about 20 minutes, but Jax will be put under general anesthesia.
That’s the freaky part.
Last time Jax had surgery, he had two spells where is oxygen levels dipped and he had a very difficult time waking up from the anesthesia. But 9 months ago, he was in a very different place. Now, he is much bigger and stronger. So, I hope it goes off without a hitch.
He is scheduled for an extended stay in case there are problems and he needs to stay overnight for observation. I’ve got my overnight bag packed, but I’m hoping I don’t have to use it!
The ear tubes will help the fluid drain from his ears and hopefully reverse the hearing damage he has from recurrent ear infections. Do you want to place some bets? What do you think his first word will be after he can hear better!?!
The scopes are to check for any scar tissue or small tears in his airways. Sometimes, this happens to kids who have been on the ventilator for a long time, like Jax. The doctor is ruling this out as a cause for his Chronic Lung Disease symptoms. Jax generally does really well, but when he gets sick, it immediately moves to his lungs and he can’t breathe. We really don’t want to find anything with the scopes tomorrow…because the treatment options are not good. (The doctor told me not to Google it, so I didn’t. But I can use my imagination.)
So, if you have a minute, will you send Jax a little prayer or positive thought for no airway problems and a quick recovery tomorrow?
An Early Start 