We are in Cincinnati.

We made it here last night without any drama! Parker again did wonderfully on the trip. We met a plastic surgeon at Toronto Pearson who had a lot of questions about the trach and the surgery. Turns out he works with a lot of trached kids who need to have cleft palette and nasal repairs. He wanted to know if the left or right side rib cartilage would be used because in their practice they have found that using the left side produces consistently better results . . . interesting.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the hotel we noticed a man unloading from a car that had a Riley Children’s hospital sticker on the back. (For those not familiar with my old stomping grounds, Riley is the hospital in Indianapolis.) We struck up a conversation with them only to learn that their 2 1/2 year old daughter is here for a work up with Dr. Cotton’s team and with the digestive team. She is trached and is probably going to require a nissen. A nissen prevents you from ever vomiting again and is used in cases of severe reflux, which this little girl has. She was born at 23 weeks and on a ventilator for 10 weeks which led to the tracheostomy. She is probably going to need the same surgery that Parker is having, that will all be confirmed for them this week. She was hospitalized for 8 months after she was born! But, other than the reflux and airway issues she is quite a happy, healthy little girl.

Parker and Ian are sleeping. I got up to double check what time Parker has to stop drinking today. The surgery was moved from 10:30 to 12:15 which is always a dread because the more “awake” hours that the kids don’t get to eat and drink, the harder it is for their pre-operative comfort level. Hungry, thirsty kids are grouchy and that just makes everyone more stressed out. Wish us luck!