We made it to an appointment on time. Yay!!! When I set his appointments I put them in Microsoft Outlook’s calendar. Well since we have such a hard time getting to our appointments, I put his appointment in for an hour prior to the actual scheduled time. As luck may have it we arrived to ENT (Otolaryngology) a half hour early! He had a bronc (laryngoscopy) done and ENT found some laryngomalacia. This was expected and common. She couldn’t tell the extent if any tracheomalacia because the tracheostomy was in the way. She did find vocal movement, however the left vocal cord may not be fully mobile. He does make sounds around his trach without a speech valve. Even though ENT was unable to make a conclusive diagnosis, because she couldn’t see above the vocal cords and below the trach, he was given an 8 out of 10. 10 being great. We’re going to do a follow up appointment in about six month (or when he’s off the ventilator) where they do a more invasive bronc, called a bronchoscopy, whereas, he’d be sedated.

While we were visiting ENT, he also had a hearing screening done. We are aware that Tre` does hear (the child is NOSY and NOTHING gets past him). However, the person administering the test, felt as though he may have possible fluid built up, which is common for ventilated kids. It was heartbreaking to hear and walking up that hallway to the soundproof room seemed so hard to do. He was extremely moody and didn’t want to participate in anything. He was tired and having a bronc was not his most favorite events. He fought the entire time. She didn’t think it was far to him so were going to reschedule that appointment as well. If it’s done on the same day where going to do the hearing screen first.

My thoughts: I know he can hear. Again, he’s very nosy and certain frequencies even scare him. It’s just a little nerve wrecking to hear yet another problem (possible) has been found.