Finally!!!  Cyler's stoma incision is looking really good.  It did completely heal up then a few days ago it opened and a little more stitch came out.  It is now closed over again and almost completely flat.  I can't help but wonder though if there might be a little more stitch in that that needs to come out.  I guess only time will tell. We don't have to keep it covered anymore and he keeps his hands off of it most of the time. It's all GOOD!!

Complications

Cyler has done extremely well following his stoma closure surgery.  Week one the incision looked like it was completely healed.  Week two the trouble began. He woke up on Saturday morning with drainage from the incision site.  We took him to the hospital and were given ABT cream and med.  Week three it started to look pretty good again but towards the end of the week he developed a ball at one end of the incision.  Finally a few days a go a pretty good sized piece of stitch was laying on Cyler's chest when he woke up.  Here we are a few days later and the ball is still there!   I am not sure if there is more that needs to come out or not.  Keeping Cyler's hands away from it is quite challanging.  I sure hope that it heals soon!

Stoma Closure

Well Cyler had his stoma closure surgery on August 4, 2011.  He did very well.  We did have to spend the night in the hospital for observation and Cyler was not to happy about that but we did it.  We are now home and every thing is going super.  We actually allowed Cyler to splash a little in the tub last night, with the doctors permission of course.  I am so proud of my little hero!

Eating

Something that we take for granted on a daily basis is the ability to chew and swallow food.  When someone doesn't get the opportunity to experience this early on in their development they can struggle a great deal with this very issue.  This is what happened to Cyler.  Cyler has been fed by a tube his entire life.  It began in the NICU.  He was fed via tube because he was intubated and sedated for quite sometime. He came home with a feeding tube and that is how he gets his nutrition.  We have tried several times since he has been home to introduce different tastes and textures.  We have been a little more persistant now that the trach is out.  Well about two weeks ago Cyler decided that he would eat for us.  He worked himself up to almost 2 jars worth of baby food per day. All of a sudden a few days ago he just stopped...he has no interest anymore.  We were warned that this might happen but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.  All we can do at this point is keep offering and keep the faith!

Threeeeeeee!!!!

Cyler is three now and is such a big boy. He is so funny! Every time you ask him how old he is he proudly replies "threeeeee".    His birthday was great.  We spent the entire day at Sea World.  Cyler got to see every single show they have there. On Saturday it was the party with the family.  We had hotdogs and my extremely talented sister made Cyler a Mickey Mouse cake which he wouldn't go near. 

It has been 2 months since trach decannulation and he is doing so well.  We are extremely proud of him.  The week before last we went to the beach.  It was so much fun.  Terry and Cyler got to put there toes in the sand for the first time ever!  

 



The ocean itself was a major hit.  We were really suprised how Cyler just wanted to keep running back to the ocean.  We were very cautious as the stoma is not closed yet but we had it very securely covered.

Cyler and Daddy played in the sand and had a blast. 

 We are planning a return trip after the stoma is closed.  Living in Florida does have it's pluses!

The Places We Go!!!!

Cyler has continued to do really well without his trach.  He has had one cold and his first bout of rotarvirus...yuck!   One thing that is a major change is that his nose is constantly running now.   He is exposed to everything and I guess he is developing allergies.  It doesn't help that the pollen count has been so high lately that it doesn't even register.   Those normally without allergies are finding that they too are susceptible to the yellow goop.  Anyway, the stoma looks really good even though it is still open.  The tape was really irritating to Cyler's already sensitive skin, so I fashioned a neck wrap out of trach ties.  Surprisingly it works really well.  It holds the gauze in place and if I need to change the gauze I just need to loosen one side of the tie and viola!    Just like before.

I must admit that it has been really nice being able to just get up and go without having to worry if the suction machine is fully charged or if we have enough catheters.  We have been so many places.  We went to Disney...

...Cyler had tea with Minnie Mouse!

and rode Dumbo with Daddy!



Disney was a lot of fun!  We have also gone to Sea World,  we got season passes so that we can go there whenever we have a doctors appointment in Orlando!  Last Sunday my mom took us all to the zoo.  Cyler really loved looking at the animals. He even got to feed a giraffe!





He really liked the aquarium at the zoo.   He enjoyed making faces at the fish...the tanks were huge and so were many of the creatures inside!

It was a really great day!   My mom got to spend some much needed time with Cyler and he loved it. 





We have been so busy having soo much fun.  Trying to get all this done before the real heat of summer sets in.  Here in Florida it gets quite hot and I don't think that would be too good for anyone let alone Cyler.  So we are now looking for some indoor activities!





Decannulation

Ok...so we get a call on Monday that says we have to go to APH on Thursday to get the trach out!  YAY!  We were told to be there about 2pm 1/27/2011.  Cyler loves the ride to Orlando and always gets soooo excited whenever he sees the big Mickey ears! We had some time to kill as the ENT was not there yet so we got to walk around the hospital a bit and Cyler had fun with Mickey and Pluto down in the lobby!

Finally, at about 6:30 in strolled the ENT.  This was it the big moment and we all thaught that we would allow Cyler to pull the trach out himself since that is one of his favorite things to do.  He wouldn't even touch it!  I couldn't believe it.  So I got to pull it out. Well Cyler screamed and screamed...the ENT was quite impressed. After about a minute daddy had gotten him calmed down.  Cyler then looked at me and pointed to his Mic-key button as if he was saying to take that one out also.  LOL!  It was sooo cute.  We let Cyler play with the trach tube for a little while before eventually throwing it in the garbage.

He did sooo well through the night.  Slept comfortably for the most part...untill the nurses needed vitals.  His numbers remained good throughout the night.  When Cyler woke up in the morning he did have quite a coughing fit but managed to get rid of his secretions...and that is what we want!  Yay! We are soo proud of him.  We were discharged home as promised right around 1pm.