Benjamin continues to recover from his surgery. The procedure began at 2 and lasted until 4:30. Everything went according to plan. He was stable throughout and is doing very well. His trach was connected to the ventilator when he came out of surgery, but he is now breathing all on his own again.Benjamin's stoma (the hole that was made to his trachea) will need to heal over the next few days. The ENT Doctor plans on changing his plastic trach tube Tuesday evening. Then Jason and I will each change it once on Wednesday and Thursday. We need to become proficient at this because his trach will need to be changed every few weeks. We also need to learn how to suction and care for the trach as well as what to do in an emergency. If all that goes well, Ben could be coming home on Friday.
Ben will slowly be weaned off the TPN which is his current nutrition method and start being fed milk through his GI tube. They are hoping to start this in the next few days after his belly has had time to heal.We also need to learn how to care for and change the GI button.
An additional MRI and EEG are planned before his discharge, to determine what, if any, neurological damage has occurred as a result of his asphyxial episodes.
Today Benjamin was quite active. He has not required much pain medication. But he still needs his rest. He appreciates all his mail.
