Starting the New Year in Good Health

The New Year has begun on a very healthy note for Tyler.

He enjoyed the Christmas Holiday by celebrating with his cousin and his visiting sister who was in town extended period of time. The New York Blizzard of 2010 kept Christi here longer than anticipated.

Tyler's health has been improving steadily and his attitude is better-than-ever. Nothing gets Tyler in a bad mood. He stays happy, joyful and full of naughtiness even when he's not feeling well.

Tyler is back in his day program two days per week. He attends outings, plays games, visits with his friends and enjoys every day. Other days he stays home and plays around the house.

Here's to a healthy year ahead of us! Hopefully all his asthma-related health problems will be kept manageable.

Tyler is doing very well -- thank you...

Tyler has done very well since coming home from the hospital this past Wednesday.

He had surgery to redesign a tracheostomy which had been placed in his neck.

The photo shown above was taken last weekend when we took him and our grand-daughter to Sea World. While there they both had the chance-of-a-lifetime to visit with Elmo of Sesame Street fame.

Tyler is scheduled to have the sutures removed from his neck next Monday then will resume his normal schedule of school and playing.

Tyler Just Hangin' Out

Tyler came through the surgery with flying colors.

He had a size six trach placed into his neck last night and soared through the procedure without any problems.

He'll stay in the I.C.U. for at least two days to ensure success and to (hopefully) reduce the amount of exposure to infection.

This photo was taken this morning as he was waking up. We just finished reading "Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman.

Surgery or Not?

Following 48-hours of confusion -- a surgery date for Tyler has been set - canceled - set again - canceled again - and set once more.

It all began with a simple naughty hand. Unfortunately for Tyler - the naughty hand struck during the middle of the night which caused irreversible damage.

Long story short - the small hole in his trachea holds a curved plastic tube which allows him to breath easily. It also allows me to administer his breathing medications directly into his lungs. This gives the best benefit of the drugs.

When the tube came out of his neck and remained out for more than a four-hour period -- the hole in his neck closed up.

Today Tyler and I spent the day at Scottsdale Healthcare-Osborn Hospital with the hopes of him having surgery at 4pm.

Literally at 3:55 pm a new Ear, Nose and Throat physician came into the room to evaluate Tyler and prepare for surgery. Being he was a new physician to care for Tyler - he had a long list of questions. He came to different conclusion than previous physicians which, in turn, canceled the surgery.

What will happen now is Tyler came home with me Friday evening with a surgery date scheduled for Monday, September 13 at 6pm.

What the new physician is planning on doing is to create a new trachea for Tyler using cartilage from his neck. He will also decrease the amount of scar tissue surrounding the hole which may cause ongoing discomfort for Tyler.

This new trach will be considered a 'permanent' trach where all previous have been considered 'temporary.' If, in the future, this trach comes out it won't close in a matter of hours. It would take weeks for the hole to close. Using the cartilage instead of skin to build the hole in his neck causes this effect.

If all goes well -- Tyler will stay in the hospital for two days following surgery. We should be home by Wednesday or Thursday next week.

As you can see by the pictures posted above -- Tyler is taking it all in stride.

The Naughty Hand Strikes Again

Hmmm -- Sometime during the nighttime hours -- Tyler's Naughty Hand decided that all was going too well in Tyler's life.

So in an attempt to keep us on our toes -- the Naughty Hand took the trach out of his neck, threw it across the room then it and Tyler went back to sleep.

The small hole in his neck closed without the trach tube in place. When mom discovered the problem and tried (in vain) to put it back in she soon realized that a trip to the hospital was in her near future.

We're heading there within the next half-hour so I'll keep you in the loop.

All is going well...

Just a quick note to tell everyone that Tyler has had a great summer. He's stayed healthy, happy and playful.

As we head into the Winter season - we're taking all precautions to ensure he stays that way.

Tyler

Well -- he's been admitted back into the ICU at Scottsdale Osborn. He had a sinus infection that wouldn't clear up and his asthma kicked in.

I'll post more soon with some photos and updates.

:)