Surgery Today

If you haven't seen the posting from yesterday, please read below as it explains the tracheostomy surgery/procedure. We met with Madeleine's doctors yesterday and agreed that the tracheostomy is needed and there is an opening for today (Monday to do the procedure). We're the "add-on" case for the day so we don't have a specific time. Its likely that the procedure will take place in the afternoon but if they have a change in schedule this morning, they will take her in. As I said in my post yesterday, we're disappointed to reach the point where Madeleine is dependent on the vent for the next few months but we've accepted that as fact and are looking forward to seeing Madeleine make progress in the weeks and months to come. We've grilled her team of doctors and they're quite confident that this is the step that will get us over the hump.

In any case, I don't have much else to report right now. I'll definitely send up a post to let everyone know once the procedure is completed. We also have a team meeting with all of Madeleine's doctors (I hope they have a large room) so that we can discuss the short and long-term ramifications of the tracheostomy. The meeting usually takes place before the procedure but we realized that we're doing the procedure anyway so there was no need to wait. Instead, we hope to use the meeting as a way to lay out medical milestones for Madeleine (at this weight, we'll decide to try this... etc.). We will also discuss the lifestyle impact of the trach procedure and how Kirsten and I will need to adjust our lifestyle to meet Madeleine's needs. That's all important information and I'm sure will be included in the posts this week.

Thanks all. Keep the prayers/thoughts coming. This surgery/procedure is pretty routine but with Madeleine, routine seems to be anything but....

Brent and Kirsten