Piper's First Post-Op Appointment!

Today Piper, Oliver, and I went to the hospital for her first post-op appointment! Piper had a chest x-ray and an EKG done! Her chest x-ray was clear and her EKG looked great! Then, I met with Dr. Davies (the other cardiac surgeon at A.I. Dupont Children's Hospital)! He took out the last few stitches in Piper's chest and said Piper was doing well! Piper did have a slight fever today, but Dr. Davies wasn't worried. Piper has a little cold and that could be responsible for her slight fever! We will just keep an eye on her temperature. We don't want her to get sick and end up in the hospital! We are so happy that Piper is healing so well! She is one strong little girl!

We are still worried about her swallowing issue! I spoke to another feeding specialist today. She suggested we come in for a feeding evaluation and maybe some feeding therapy! She think it may help to teach her to swallow thicker liquids! At this point, we are willing to do anything to help our little princess. Right now we are still syringe feeding her liquids a little bit at a time or we are pinching a straw to reduce the flow of the thin liquid that she is drinking. Dr. Davies did say there is a procedure the ENT can do to help her vocal fold paresis. He said it was some kind of an injection that will help close the hole. He explained that her nerve that works her vocal fold was probably cut during the surgery in China. He said usually the nerve is stretched during the surgery and will function normally in two to three months. Unfortunately, since Piper never regained the ability to swallow thin liquids without coughing after her initial surgeyr in China, she will probably never be able to swallow normally. We just have to figure out the best plan for her now and in the future!