Elizabeth's 1st Prom

Surgery update

On Monday, May 5, Elizabeth had a bronchoscopy/laryngoscopy to evaluate her airway. Dr. Cotton determined that she will need to have 3 surgeries. The first 2 will be on the same day in the end of May. We don't have a date yet. One surgery is to remove her lingual tonsils. We all have them. They line the back of our throats, way down past where the tongue attaches. Anyway, Elizabeth's are unusually large and need to be removed to make more room for air. Dr. Cotton thinks they are so large due to her acid reflux that she has suffered with since birth. She has taken, Reglan, Zantac and Prilosec. For that last 2 years she has been just taking the prilosec. While she is under anesthesia having her lingual tonsils removed, a G.I. surgeon will take a look at her esophagus for damage and also take a few biopsies of the esophagus. Hopefully the G.I doc can come up with a treatment for her reflux. Those are the two surgeries on on day.

The BIG surgery will be on either July 2 or July 14. We should have a definite date soon. Dr. Cotton will take one of Elizabeth's ribs and graft it into the front of her airway to expand the airway and also give it support. We were really hoping to have the big surgery done in June because it is a long recovery. She wants time to recover and get back into shape before school starts on September 2nd.

Here are a few pictures of the last 2 days of surgery/procedures






This was before surgery






















This was the day after surgery in the Voice Clinic just before her vocal cord scope.












This is the first scope which was done through the mouth while the doctor held Elizabeth's tongue. Elizabeth said this scope was easier than the next one.















This was the second scope which was done through her nose. Her nose is bothering her now. It hurts.