Right Line, Wrong Lap

The end is still in sight; we just need to make one more lap around the track.  Dr. Digoy decided to temporarily put in a special trach that let Benjamin breathe through his mouth and nose.  The last time we tried this trach, Ben couldn't handle it. This time, however, he got used to it after a few minutes and slept through the night in the hospital without any suctioning or problems breathing. Since Ben passed this test, he's ready to have the final surgery to take out the trach. We don't know when this last surgery will be, but it should be soon.

Almost There

The surgeon has decided that if Ben's airway looks good on Tuesday morning, he's going to proceed and take out the trach (decannulation). The surgery starts at 7:45 in OKC, and we'll be in the hospital for a few days if all goes well.  It feels so good to have the finish line in sight.

Step One

Today, we took the first and most important step toward successful potty training.

Always Faithful

As I was suctioning blood and mucus out of Benjamin's neck at 4:00 in the morning in a cold hospital room while his sweaty little body was fighting off a fever and convulsing every 25 seconds for several hours in reaction to morphine that he had received the previous day, I caught myself asking God whether he really was okay with this situation. Surely God can do better than this, can't he? Almighty God must be pretty sick to just sit there and watch an innocent child suffer like this. The whole scene just made me angry.

Three and a half weeks later, I'm happy to report that it looks like Benjamin could get his trach out before the end of the year!  Dr. Digoy looked at him today and said that Ben now has a normal-size airway.  There's a litte more tissue that he'll be lasering out in two weeks, but if that procedure goes well, we're looking at December 23rd as the day Ben will get his trach out, which I'm guessing will be Adrienne's best birthday gift ever. And if things go smoothly, we would be discharged from the hospital on Christmas day (not a bad day to start a new life with Ben).

Some days it's hard to say, but on days like this it's easy to say, "Our God is faithful. Our God is love. Always."

Some videos for your enjoyment:

In a totally unrelated video, here's what happens when your co-workers have too much free time on their hands.

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There and Back Again

We're home. Ben is doing well. God is good.