Surgery Recap

Surgery was today. Breanna had a DISE (drug induced sleep endoscopy) to check for airway obstructions. The hardest part was not letting her eat after midnight last night because of the anesthesia.  But once they gave her some medication to make her drowsy she fell asleep within 15 minutes or so and was ready for surgery.  In the waiting room, we got a call from the OR to let us know she was doing well and that they were going to go ahead and perform a Supraglottalplasty – clipping some extra tissue on the voice box they thought might be a contributing factor to her breathing problems.

When the doctor came out after surgery, he told us that another doctor was in the room and they both agreed that the small amount of extra tissue on the voice box didn’t appear to be anything that would be causing her breathing difficulties to the severity that she has. They think today’s surgery might help a little bit but that it won’t solve the problem and will not eliminate her need to be on oxygen. So, we wait again. She will come home on oxygen, as before, and in 6 weeks she’ll have to go in for another sleep study to check for any improvement.  So Windy (the oxygen tank) will be with us a while longer, at least.

Breanna seems to be doing well now and they’ll let me feed her when she wakes up from a nap which will make her happy! Her temperature was low, but they’ve wrapped her up in warm blankets and will check her again in a bit to make sure her temp is rising as it should. Other than that, we’re just hanging out in the NICU (there were no available beds for us anywhere else) for the night so they can make sure she handles the surgery well before going home tomorrow.

It’s hard to send your baby off to surgery but it was nice to hear from friends who had been through the same surgery with their kids and assured us that everything would be okay. We’re also so grateful for the many prayers that have been offered for Breanna and offers to help and for those who have helped us out from our ward – behind the scenes helping to arrange things, assisting Jeff in giving Breanna a priesthood blessing last night, bringing in meals, and helping with our other children so Jeff and I could both be here during the surgery. We are so blessed by the love and support of so many family and friends  . . . thank you!