The anticipation around the house is so high..it feels like the evening before a scheduled C-Section...some uneasiness about the unknown but mostly overwhelming excitement over the miraculous event about to occur. Tomorrow, Lord willing, Maisy will be free of her trach forever. There are no words to describe how I am feeling about this.
Just a little over a year ago, we met Maisy. She was ventilator dependent for 23 hours a day. She has come so far...and we are so proud of her. She is sooooo ready to begin this new part of her life. So ready to be free of all that comes with living with a trach. Just to get out of the house with a child who has a trach is a project. With all of the emergency equipment that needs to come along not to mention that you must always have two people (usually a nurse) in the car in the case of an emergency--everything that Maisy does must be planned out. And Maisy is a carefree girl--she signs the words "bye bye" and then "drive" all day long. She is an adventurer at heart. Nothing, not even a trach or a ventilator has slowed her down much. But, now as she falls asleep tonight, a whole new world will await her tomorrow.
We will go to Mpls Children's hospital in the early morning to prepare for a bronchoscopy at 7:30am. She will be placed under anesthesia so the ENT can remove the trach and take a look at her airway. Then, if he feels it is okay to proceed with decannulation, he will place the trach back in. They will then admit Maisy into the hospital and we will wait until she is fully awake from the anesthesia. At that time, the doctor will remove her trach. She will then be monitered overnight in the hospital. If all goes well, she will be discharged on Saturday!
