Kyle Greene
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After a completely normal pregnancy our son, Kyle, was born on October 5, 1999, only 2 weeks early. As soon as he was delivered there was obviously something wrong with his breathing. He was transported to another hospital by their "Angel Team" and admitted to the N.I.C.U. It was obvious he had some sort of a stridor at birth but he was there for 3 days before they discovered that he had congenital bilateral vocal chord paralysis.
They decided to do a tracheotomy so he would be able to breath. His vocal chords would not open up enough for him to breath. He stayed in the N.I.C.U. for 9 days before we got to bring our sweet baby home. Kyle is our first child and he is very special to us. Other than the vocal chord paralysis, of which the cause is unknown, he has no other disabilities. We are very thankful for this because so many other things could have gone wrong that are so much worse. We know that this happened for some reason and we have to learn to accept and just pray that he will get better soon.
Kyle went back to the E.N.T. specialist, Dr. Jay Werkhaven, at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, in January and there was some improvement. His vocal chords had began to move a little. That was very good news for us. He goes back in April for another check. They will do a scope to look at his chords to check for movement. Hopefully the doctor will be able to see more improvement and we can talk about getting the trach out sometime soon.
Taking care of a baby with a trach requires a lot of extra care and special attention but it is not impossible. We have learned a lot from Kyle these past few months. I would be glad to talk to anyone who wants to ask me questions or just wants to talk.
Update April 2000: Kyle was seen his ENT on April 6, 2000. They did the flexible scope to see if there was any more movement in his vocal chords. There was a 1 to 2 millimeter opening which is the same he had in February. We will go back in July and hopefully by then there will be more improvement. We keep hoping and praying that Kyle will get better on his own and we can get his trach out soon, but if for some reason he is not better within the next year and a half (he will be 2 years old then), we will look at other options, like surgery, to get it out.
Update July 2000: Kyle had his 9 month checkup with his ENT on July 5. We got very good news. The vocal chords are moving enough that we are going to attempt decannulation in the end of August. The opening of his airway is still not as wide as what is normal, but it is enough that he can breath on his own without a trach. We are so happy for him and we thank God for making him well. He also will have a circumcision and a hernia operation the same day his trach comes out. Please pray for Kyle and his recovery from his surgeries next month. Hopefully they will all go well.
Update October 2000: On October 5th, Kyle's 1st Birthday, he was decannulated!! He had a checkup on September 6 and his vocal chords seemed to be moving enough to decannulate, but the ENT wanted us to cap his trach first and let him get used to the idea of breathing through his nose. We did that for a month and he wore his cap (or plug) all day while he was awake. He is doing great. He does have stridor still because his stoma is still open but other than that no problems yet. Thank God for miracles!!!
- E-mail Laura at mkyleg@aol.com
