We met with Jereth's cardiologist again on Thursday. She has referred us to the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor) in Boise to follow up on the procedure Jereth had done in Salt Lake but the information from the ENT in Salt Lake has not been sent to either of them yet.
Next week the ENT would like to do a follow-up bronchioscopy to check Jereth's airway and see how he is healing from the supraglottoplasty (trimming of excess cartilage above his voice box). While he is sedated, she wants to bring in a gastroenterologist to take a look at Jereth's esophagus to see if the treatment he is receiving for reflux is effective or if something more needs to be done. During the same sedation, Dr. Walker wants to do a sedated echo cardiogram (heart study using ultrasound).
I appreciate the coordination so he only needs to be under anesthesia once. I am concerned that he will end up on a ventilator again, like he did after being sedated at Primary Children's.
We're still 8 weeks away from my Spring Break and Dr. Walker, the cardiologist, worries that keeping Jereth on high-flow air for that long will be very draining on both him and us. I assured her that we would not object to getting the heart surgery done before then, we just don't want to wait beyond then to get Jereth's heart fixed.
It sounds like the ENT might recommend a procedure to be done in conjunction with the heart surgery that will hold Jereth's trachea open. It would be nice if his airway issues can be improved, too. It often takes 18 months to 2 years for a child to outgrow tracheomalacia on their own. That would be a long time to keep him on the high-flow air intervention.
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