Snow tubing was the plan for the day. We were working on a trip to the western North Carolina mountains this weekend. I promised Riley some snow this winter and I was planning to deliver on my promise this weekend. Our day went horrible yesterday when I was woke up at about 4am with a tooth ache that ended with half of my day in the dentist chair. I was given some narcotics to help manage the pain so driving a mini van full of crumb crunchers in the snow and ice was not a good mix for the weekend. Never mind the fact that the cost of the emergency dental work and a broken car window completely drained our emergency fund. Sherry and I agreed that we would cancel/postpone the trip.
Then this evening Caden popped a fever of 102.3. This fever confirmed that staying home this weekend was the right decision. Caden has been tugging at his ears this week and has had lots of goobers. With him still not swallowing anything the excess goobers makes for some rough nights that can be especially uncomfortable if we are all crammed into a hotel room together.
Myotomy Scheduled
We have decided to move forward with the Cricopharyngeal Myotomy for Caden. This is the first step to get Caden some swallowing functionality. Caden has never swallowed anything since birth…not even his own saliva. After this surgery Caden can enter aggressive swallowing therapy. Up until this point no one has been willing to work with Caden due to the physiological blockage at the upper esophageal sphincter (UES).  The surgery is scheduled for March 5th.  The ENT will have to cut through the outside of Caden’s neck to gain access to his UES. The surgery will require at least one night in the hospital for observation since the procedure will take place int he main operating room area of MUSC. We may also try to get a sedated echo cardiogram and some immunology labs at the same time.  Caden generally has very good self control and does not require sedation for an echo, but the number of vials of blood required for an immunology panel is very involved and drawing that much blood is tough on the little guy. More details to follow.