Bronchoscopy Results

Lyla had her bronchoscopy on Jan 28. It was at the new surgery center in St. Paul -- man what  change since last time we were here! Since the last time Lyla had surgery here (2 years ago), they have finished the new surgical suites, waiting room and patient rooms. It's beautiful!

Lyla did very well getting prepared. She had a frown when she learned she had to have the mask for gas anesthesia, but she was a champ and chose Dr. Pepper as her smell. She's obsessed with Dr. Pepper these days. It also helped to have Grandpa there with us. They played iPad games and legos while we waited for Dr. Malone. 

Lyla went to sleep well and the whole thing only took about 20 minutes. Dr. Malone came out and showed us the photos of Lyla's vocal cords, trachea at the trach site, carina and vocal cords again (top to bottom, left to right). Everything looks good! She was very pleased and said that she watched Lyla go to sleep, put pressure on her airway, and checked out everything inside and all was good. She said Lyla's trachea is strong and there's no way it would be collapsing or causing breathing issues when she goes under. She also said Lyla's glands look good so they wouldn't be causing issues either. 

And then she told us that she hopes she never sees us again and that sometimes it's good to graduate from your specialists. Basically -- we never need to have ENT again! YAY! 

It was a little crazy being back at St. Paul. A lot has changed since Lyla was in the PICU (above). The Unit is still pretty much in tact, but it's completely empty. The play room is less than half the size if used to be, but the fish are still there. What was the family waiting room has been completely re-purposed and is now offices of some kind. I think the sleep rooms are back in there somewhere, but they're not for parents anymore -- maybe for doctors? In short, the place we called home is totally different. Seems crazy that what we knew so well from that time is gone. We used to say that someday this would all just be a memory. I guess now that's true!