Medical Updates

The past two weeks have been VERY busy for the Jacksons. Noah has had five doctor's appointments {two of them out of town}, we have gone on two mini weekend vacations, and have had countless play dates and BBQs with family and friends. Here are some updates on what we learned at the doctors appointments.

Plastic Surgery:

Noah's hands continue to heal quite nicely. They were wrapped continuously for two weeks post surgery. After those initial two weeks, we unwrapped his hands nightly, gave him a bath, let the hands dry out, and then wrapped them back up. As of his appointment last week, Noah's right hand is doing excellent and doesn't have to be wrapped any more. His left hand has a bit more healing to do and needs to continue to be wrapped. Although, as you can see from pictures in previous posts, we've taken liberties in how long we let his hand "dry out".

Ophthalmology:

Last week, we headed down to Children's Hospital Los Angeles to see Noah's eye doctor. It was a LONG trip but Noah did well in the car. The Dr said Noah's left eye continues to look good and so we're going to continue his current eye drops. He also decided that Noah needs glasses. While Noah is a bit near sighted, the primary reason for the glasses is to protect his eye from possible injury. Because he's only got one, we need to do everything we can to keep it safe. We have ordered the glasses {very cute plastic children's ones} and they should be here in the next week or so.

Otolaryngology:

After Noah's last scope of his trachea, our ENT Dr referred us to a specialist at Children's Hospital Stanford. We drove up to Stanford yesterday, and once again, Noah did quite well in the car. We met our AMAZING Dr and were quite impressed with the clinic. The first thing they did was stick a long camera down Noah's nose straight into his trachea so they could get a good look around {while he was awake}. Needless to say, Noah DID NOT like this. The first thing the Dr saw was how large Noah tonsils were. "Those have got to go," he exclaimed. He was also able to see that Noah's vocal chords were "trying" to move while he was screaming and crying. "Very encouraging," he said. We discussed the MAJOR surgery to re-build Noah's trachea and possibly take out his trach. There is about a 70% success rate with severe cases like Noah. We head back up to Stanford on September 8 so the Dr can do his own scope and take out Noah's tonsils and adenoids. At that point, he will be able to make a plan whether or not to proceed with Noah's laryngotracheoplasty.

I am so blessed to be on summer vacation and not have to take days off work for all of these appointments. While I would much rather be a SAHM {stay at home mother}, I have to give thanks for the job I have, the flexibility it allows us, and the health benefits it gives Noah. We've got some major surgeries ahead of us, so I'm hoping to make the most of this summer and have as much fun as possible!