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It’s been 6 or so weeks since Mary Elizabeth’s last sclerotherapy/injection surgery. So today we had a follow up appointment with her surgeon- Dr. B.

Last time we had a follow up appointment it went faster than expected, so I guess I was fooling myself that it would go fast again (even though it always took long in the past). And usually it’s quite frustrating being in NYC all day. But, I felt really positive after this NYC visit.

After looking at her, examining her and looking at photos etc. Dr. B felt that a lot of what she has left is bone and some fatty tissues and scar tissues. Therefore after about 5 rounds of sclerotherapy… she’s done with it!!!

This is good news because we are ready to move forward with the next steps. And going forward is always a GOOD thing. She’s come a long way with the sclerotherapy and we are so blessed that it has been pretty successful thus far.

So while we were there, Dr. B called Dr. Waner up to his office from the hospital and Dr. Waner talked to him a bit and they both agreed that she was done with the injections and then Dr. Waner on a whim said we should come to his office and discuss the next steps. The next steps are to have a CT Scan & MRI done with a model of her jaw, and then a tonsilectomy along with a scope of her airway.

CT Scan & MRI are going to be done to take a look at her more closely in preparation for a future jaw surgery. She really needs jaw work done as her jaw is overgrown. However the timing of this needs to be accurate as to not affect her permenant-adult teeth. So they will look into this more and talk to the team of doctors that will be doing it in the future. The tentative scheduling for this CT Scan and MRI will be on August 19th. They are hoping to do it all in one day so they don’t have to put her under anesthesia twice.

The tonsilectomy and scoping of her airway will most likely be done on October 12th. (They may squeeze us in earlier if they have an opening). Her tonsils are a bit large – assuming from her condition, and they are going to remove them as to increase the amount of airway she has. They will scope her airway to see how things are and to see if anything further needs to be done. This will be a step forward into becoming decannulated (having the trach removed). No, it won’t be overnight but it’s in the foreseeable future and being any amount of steps closer to it, is a very good feeling. So hopefully things will continue to move forward in that direction. Keep that in your prayers!

We also spoke about her gtube. The area is always sore and red, we’ve battled with it for 3 1/2 yrs now and it leaks quite a bit too. She eats so well and there really isn’t a true need for it. I questioned Dr. Waner if she needed it for surgeries and he said she did not. As far as her pediatricians are concerned – they want to see that she is gaining weight while off of the gtube. So Andy & I have been doing our own little test and not feeding her by gtube at night anymore since right before we went on vacation (end of June). So far by our scales she hasn’t lost any weight- but she gained a pound. We’ll keep this up and bring her to the pediatrician soon to discuss with them possible removal eventually. Again perhaps not right away, but maybe in the foreseeable future (just a bit closer than decannulation). So think piggy thoughts for Mary Elizabeth, that she’ll eat and drink lots and keep it in your prayers as well.

After those things are done we’ll talk more about what is next and of course she’ll have other surgeries to clean things up and whatnot. But we won’t know what is next until those things are done.

So all in all it was a good appointment, after we saw Dr. Waner we had to walk back to the hospital and make the appts for the CT Scan & MRI and well it was a long day…. Mary Elizabeth was great with it all, so I’m proud of my little girl who is getting oh – so – big.

Well that’s it for the update. I’ll be sure to note any changes or updates as we continue. 🙂