Esophagus Dilatation #4

Looking like a little lady in her dress from grandma

Today, Lucy had her 4th esophagus dilatation.  Poor baby! :(  Jason and I were counting back on the number of surgeries/procedures that she has had and think that this was her 10th! (1st attempt at TEF repair, G-Tube insertion, 2nd attempt at TEF repair, vascular ring repair, shunt placement, upper endoscopy/bronch, and esophagus dilatations 1, 2 3 and 4)  Let's hope that she has less in her future than she has had in her past.

Today's dilatation went very well.  Her site had grown together quite a bit again, but the doctor was able to get her to the third level of the balloon and go even a little further with a larger one as well - he thought he got her to about 8 mm.  If you remember, she started at about 2, so that is great progress!  The theory is that once the opening is wide enough, she will be able to eat more foods that keep it open and it will not have the opportunity to close as easily.  Also, she woke up so much better this time!  The anesthesiologist really listed to our previous experiences and looked back at previous notes to determine the best doses and mix of stuff to give her.  When I sent back to the recovery to see her, she was awake and not on oxygen!  We are very thankful for how things went today.

We are so proud of our little girl - she remains to happy and fun despite this not fun stuff we have to put her through every few weeks.  The hospital staff always tell us how cute she is and are amazed at how happy and smiley she is when she comes in!

Other than that, we are staying busy getting settled, getting used to the new nanny and planning her first birthday party!

Next week, we have a follow-up appointment with neurology to check on the status of her hydrocephalus.

Her favorite thing to do - pull herself up and play standing up (so much more fun than sitting, right?)