07/09/2026
Everyone say some prayers for our handsome little Deputy Dallas! He has surgery tomorrow at Children's MPLS and we will be in the hospital for a few days. We will be addressing several things. But the main one is excessive excessive secretions. As you can see in this picture. Which was taken less than a minute after suctioning his mouth out 🙃🤤
So let's talk about what all is happening tomorrow! I will go from least to most invasive.
First, he is going to get his GJ tube switched out which is standard every 3 months. Then they will do a nasal cauterization. Dallas has frequent nose bleeds which really interferes with his respiratory treatments and keeping his airway clear. Next, they will do a bronchoscopy to assess his airway and lungs. They wil also take some biopsies of his lungs and hopefully clear out copious amounts of mucous and secretions to help him breathe better. And lastly, they will be doing what is called a DROOL procedure. We have tried everything to keep his secretions under control, including botox. Nothing has worked. He is on 3 medications daily to help with secretions and he is still just constantly drowning himself. And unfortunately, these medications cause other side effects that impact his heart rate, temp regulation, and gut motility. So they are going to remove both of his submandibular (saliva) glands and do a Parotid duct ligation. Which should help reduce his saliva by 50-75% and also reduce the risk of pneumonia AND we can get him off these medications!
He will spend a few days in PICU to recover and so we can keep a close eye on his respiratory status after these procedures. Pray that everything goes smooth, that he is not too uncomfortable post op, and that we will be back home by next week 🙏🙏🙏
