Back from the hospital

Zachary had his procedure on Wednesday, which went well and was altogether uneventful.  He only had to spend about 36 hours in the hospital, primarily to make sure that he wasn't having any cardiac problems because of his pulmonary hypertension.  He passed with flying colors.  (What the hell does that mean, anyway?) But he was one mad kid when he got back from surgery because he was so hungry.  He ate more at one time by mouth when he finally could eat than he ever has before.

The doctor didn't take out the tissue blob that by his estimates is occluding between 30 to 40 percent of his airway.  He said it was preferable to wait since the mass is above the trach and not obstructing his breathing right now and removing it could cause more bleeding or other problems.  It could get smaller (or bigger) on its own so we're going to closely monitor it for any changes.  If it doesn't get smaller it will need to be cut out before the trach can come out since it then would be blocking a significant portion of his airway. 

This is what it looks like (it's the white mass at the top of the picture):

The procedure did reveal that he has no other structural problems in his trachea that could cause problems down the road, so hopefully it stays that way. 

He did get a new trach, though.  The tube on this one goes down about 6 millimeters further than the previous one.  Doesn't sound like much to me but apparently the extra length will help him ventilate better as he gets bigger and the distance between the hole in his neck and his lungs lengthens.  It also is made of silicone and metal instead of plastic.  He seems to be liking it so far.  And we've heard some different sounds since he got it, maybe because of the difference in tube size. 

And not to jinx it, he hasn't vomited since he got back from the hospital.  We've been barf-free for more than 48 hours, so WOW!

Finally, we thought it was funny that nurses other than his were standing outside his room looking in and talking about how cute he is.  But when you look like this, how can you disagree?