Pulmonology Appointment

On Monday, we took Luke to see the Pulmonologist for a long overdue follow-up. Besides being scolded by him several times for not having seen him in so long (I mean, is it really wise to make a 6 hour trip in the midde of cold and flu season with a trached child who is actually healthy and bring him into a respiratory clinic full of germs just to have the doctor listen to his lungs and say he sounds junky, which we already know???), we discussed Luke's ongoing need for oxygen at night and he did actually have some good suggestions. The doc seems to think that it could be due to his over abundance of secretions that clog up his airway at night. Then the question becomes, are they oral secretions or lung secretions and would he benefit from having surgery to tie off four of his salivary glands? He suggested that we start using Robinul regularly, which dries up secretions, to see if it helps with his O2 needs at night. We tried it last night and he was extremely restless, so it's hard to tell if it's from the Robinul or from being sick. So, we decided to delay the use of Robinul until he's done with his antibiotics. We have used Robinul before but just not consistently. I also asked him about Vital Stim Therapy, which promotes better swallowing. I've heard of some success stories with this in CHARGE kids. He thought that would be worth a shot, so I'll be checking into that some more. I think the closest place that offers it is Brainerd (45 miles away), so we may be traveling there every day for a few weeks. In the meantime, Luke is still battling his strep throat bug, which is more of a stomach bug than anything. Not sure if it's from the antibiotics or the sickness itself, but he's not tolerating his feedings well and he's definitely not feeling the best. And yes, he still manages to smile and be the happy little guy he is!