[OhBuoy]

Sorry it has taken a while to update. Tommy's surgery took longer than planned (nothing goes as planned for Tommy, we know that and live with it). The biggest reason is because he is so hard to get an IV line in. After an hour of trying (and many battle scars) they were able to get one in and a spare to boot. They still do not know if he has vocal cords, but when they opened up that region, they stitched the skin back to resemble vocal cords in hopes that they will take on a similar function. We were told early on that Tommy will not be an opera singer. The major supporting cartilage was also not formed properly and was a large mass of cartiledge with a tiny opening. So, they opened that up and put two grafts from his ribs to hold it open.

When we were sitting with him in recovery, we were hearing an odd noise. Maggie and I kept trying to figure out if it was his trach leaking or a leak in his ventilator. It turns out that it was air passing through his mouth and nose for the very first time ever. What a noise! And what a sound to hear him cry. It is not a normal cry, but it is a cry.

Monday night was a little rough with some miscommunication on pain management, but we are back on track. He had a pretty good day today starting out sitting up and moving on to cruising along furniture. He even tried to make a mad dash for it out of the glass sliding doors in his room. We are hoping to get out of here in about a week and be able to come back in four weeks to have the stent removed. Keep the prayers comming that he continues to do good and that he is able to keep the one remaining IV in place.

Anyone interested in following Tommy's progress now and in the future, send me a message and I will invite you to his Care Page.