Update #118

No trach surgery!

The scope yesterday afternoon was miserable, I won't lie. Dave was asking Dr. Bauer to take the camera out of his throat the whole time, and I one point, I was tempted to reach over and yank it out myself because it was making him cough so much. But within 10 minutes, it was over, and the results were good...in a way.

On the positive side, Dave will not need a new trach, a stint or a massive throat surgery. Although there is scar tissue built up in small amounts around his trach site, the tissue is not blocking his airway, even when he coughs. Such a relief!

On the negative side, however, that means there is nothing he, we or the doctors can do to make his breathing easier aside from wait. Because his shortness of breath is not coming from scar tissue, it can only be coming from the damage to his diaphram. Unfortunately, the body's next choice for breathing assistance is the abdominal wall and muscles, which Dave also does not have. As a result, the muscles in his neck and shoulders have to compensate for the lack of strength and support in his abdomen, and building up those muscles is a matter of time and patience. In the future, there are plans to reinforce Dave's abdomen and reconstruct his injury site, but the five-year reconstruction process won't do him a whole lot of good when he is struggling to breathe during PT/OT this afternoon.

That being said, Dave's body will compensate, at least in part, without additional procedures or surgery, and that is completely an answer to prayer. Thank you all so much for continuing to be so faithful in your prayers. They are working!

One more really cool piece of news: Dave and I set the date for our wedding! Save the date - June 6, 2009, the one-year anniversary of his accident (collective "Awwww..."). :-) Now we're just praying that he'll be up and about and energetic enough to enjoy the ceremony and reception without being too worn out...

More later...