Tyler Speaks!

For more than four months Tyler hasn't been able to speak because of the larger sized trach tube that was placed in his neck during his first hospitalization in April.

Craig and I took Tyler to to see the pulmonary doctor this past Monday for his second follow-up visit since his last hospitalization.

"Tyler - you are doing remarkably well. You're probably four to five months ahead of where I thought you'd be right now."

Those were the words his doctor said to him when he was through with the examination.

So - Tyler got to have a different kind of trach tube put in. The first trach had a 'cuff' on it. The cuff would be inflated with a small tube and syringe whenever he was placed on the ventilator. The cuff would be inflated to the size of the inside of his trach which wouldn't allow any of the pressure support to be released through his nose.

The new trach that was places is 'cuffless' which now allows a small amount of air to pass through his trach and over his vocal cords. And -- voila! Tyler speaks!

This may not seem like much of an accomplishment but it really is.

What it means is that the air being exchanged in Tyler's lungs is doing so at a rate that allows some air to escape.

His lungs are improving and his attitude improved 100% when he got to speak again.

The voice he has now is a little bit hoarse and crackly and a little bit scratchy. He surprised himself when the speaking valve was but back onto his trach.

In the video you can hear him say 'mom' 'hi' and 'e' -- the 'e' sound is for the name 'Petey' which is the name of a little puppy in his favorite story book.

Now he is yelling, screaming in the hallway and pulling his own hair trying to get us to laugh at him.

He's about 80% back to where he was before his long illness.

The work ahead of us is physical therapy to help him regain the use of his legs for crawling and pulling himself up into and out of bed.

improvements every day...

Well -- this week Tyler has decided that enough is enough.

One day he sat up, crawled into the hallway and started yelling to play with his favorite ball.

His strength is returning to his body and his naughty personality has himself getting into trouble again.

The kitties -- Allie and Bernie -- thought they were safe but he's after them again.