D-man's Day!

Dallin went back last week Monday to Primary Children's hospital for this third operation in hopes of opening his airway more and finding a solution to his breathing problem. This time around, the operation was super quick because there was no cutting involved and he didn't even end up in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as last time. In fact, he was ready to go home a few hours after and I was so excited! Before D-man was discharged, his Otolaryngologist (ENT Specialist), came in to speak to me about his findings during the procedure. He said the good news was that they found no obstruction in Dallin's airway, however they found lumps in his esophagus so he took a biopsy of it. Well, I received a call from the ENT's nurse on Thursday and she gave me the results on the biopsy... it was "abnormal and may indicate severe Eosinophilic Esophagitis," or EE disease. Then on Friday, I spoke with the ENT to discuss the results further and when I asked him if the lumps, or eosinophils, were small in number, he said that there were several in his esophagus. After doing some research on this disease, I've had mixed emotions since in that if this is truly his prognosis, then there will be some major adjustments our family is going to have to make to help Dallin. I wish it was a simple fix and yet, I'm so grateful that it's not fatal. The ENT recommended 2 Pediatric GI Specialist, one of them at Primary's, which he contacted to get Dallin seen right away. I suppose he feels it's severe enough. He said the sooner Dallin is treated, the sooner he'll be on his way to being healthier. Dallin would be able to grow more and perform physical activities without overexertion. The problem... both GI Specialists are booked. One until August and the other to September, but we're expecting a call from Primary Children's GI Specialist to take him in this week or so. I hope. We'll see.

---

Prepping for surgery...

---

The perfect way to kill 3 hours of waiting for surgery. He thinks it's cool to play in his "nightie"!

---

Waiting in the pre-op room with his very pregnant Aunty Norma.

---

Sweet Malianna, waiting for her Uncle Vao and Aunty Lafo to pick her up from the hospital.

---

D-man being wheeled off to surgery by his anesthesiologist.

---

Post-op. He was starving and had not eaten for nearly 24 hours at that point (he fell asleep right before dinner the day before and slept all night).

---

Dallin guarding his popsicle from his Uncle Vao.

---
Malianna's relieved her Aunty Lafo showed up.
---
Checking out the mural in the elevator with his Daddy! His cousin Nathan was impressed by it too. :)