Discharge Day!

More fun in the hospital playroom!

A family member gently reminded me to tone down the medical lingo when talking about baby Audrey. I'm sorry, I'm honestly not meaning to talk over anyone's head. For anyone who's confused, here's a basic summary of what's going on. Audrey's throat keeps closing down even though we've done everything we know how to stop it. We're in Massachusetts to try things that weren't available in Utah. Since she was closing down again even though we went through a major surgery in August to supposedly stop it for good, the doctor tried something new by putting a stent (piece of pipe) in her food tube to try to train it to stay open. The stent was temporary, and they were deciding how long to leave it in. After the past week, he was saying he wanted it in another week, but then after consulting with his colleagues he changed his mind and took it out today. The simple version of the result is, things looked really good and open after he took out the stent, a little irritation was all. He injected a chemo drug into the trouble spot to hopefully prevent it from closing down again. We will go back in a week to see if it is working. After all we've been through, I am not getting my hopes up. But at least it's something positive to report, and if tonight goes well she should get out of the hospital in the morning.

For my more medical savvy peeps out there, Dr Manfredi injected Mytomycin C into her stricture. It's a serious drug and makes me nervous, but we hope it works where nothing else ultimately has. She had a 12mm stent in place and when he pulled it out, he said her leak had healed over and she is currently more open than he'd ever seen. (Someone grab the Texas hairspray, quick!) We'll go back for a scope and dilation each week for a while to see what happens.

"Toss the Aquanet!  My throat's wide open and I want it to STAY!"