Had a bedside bronchoscopy this afternoon. They found the trachea to be narrower than what they would expect for a child her age and size. The belief is it from reflux causing irritation of the trachea (windpipe).

She was supposed to have an MRI at 3PM, then 5PM, then 8PM but emergencies prevented it. It should be done tomorrow, they run a 24/7 MRI. The problem is that since she is on a ventilator it takes many staff to transport her over there and they must remain with her. An emergency (kid going bad) in another part of the ICU demands their attention right now. We are fine with that, been on both ends of that situation and resources go where they are needed most. We are not expecting much from the MRI findings anyway.

Faith has a date in the OR on Monday with two ENT surgeons who will be extubating and viewing her upper airway and all the other parts the bronchoscopy could not see. The surgeon who is most expert in airway issues along with their surgical correction will be there along with the head of the dept. to perform the test.

We expect her to be re-intubated and returned to the ventilator until about Thursday of next week. It’s providing her body and lungs a chance to recover and heal. You must remember in addition to the airway issues she also still has those pulmonary emboli.

It “should” be a very quiet weekend, I’ll only update if something significant occurs (good or bad), otherwise Monday after we know what’s going on.