Brachial Cleft Surgery Delayed--Yeay!

This was originally written on Wednesday, July 9, 2008:

Today my (half) brother turns twenty-one. . .wow. . .I remember when he was born! I was a seven-year-old at daycare, listening to a teacher read a story, when another teacher came in and asked if "Andrea would please come out in the hall." Everyone looked at me curiously as I stood up and proudly walked out of the room. I didn't know why I was being called out, but I usually blended into the woodwork at all of my babysitters houses and daycare centers, so this was a rare time of feeling important.

When I reached the hallway, I saw my dad standing there smiling. "Evy had her baby," he said.
"Is it a girl?" I asked, since the only thing I knew was to hope for someone whose hair I could play with, haha.
"No, it's a boy: Jacob."
I was still happy--especially that evening when I went to the hospital and held him for the first time. He was my only sibling (I was raised as an only child). . .we were bonded for life!

For the next several years we were close. Even when his mom and my dad divorced a year after he was born, and then I moved two hours away, we had the best times together when we visited our dad approximately one weekend each month and for several days every other holiday. I loved watching him grow up; in fact, he's who I see in my mind when I think about Logan at different ages, since he's the only boy whose life from birth to adulthood I saw regularly!

When I got into high school, it was harder to spend as much time with him and we were at two separate stages in life, but I tried to make as many of his sports events, music events, and theater events as possible. By the time he'd entered college, we were at the same stage again (yes, I was 25 but I still felt like a college student, haha) and we began getting to know each other in a new way through e-mail, etc. Over the past three years we've grown close again and I wish I could transport myself to California today to celebrate with him! (Click here to find out why he's there.)

By the way, his mom had the same problem I did as far as "having a small pelvis." She ended up with a c-section (my brother was almost ten pounds) but he said that her last child (she went on to have three more) "slipped right out!" So, I have another hope that my next baby might not get as stuck as Logan OR need a c-section!

Speaking of Logan, we met with the ENT yesterday about his condition and the doctor basically said all of the same things as the plastic surgeon last week. . .except that he doesn't usually do the surgery until babies are 9 months old! He, too, was very experienced with brachial cleft fistula and does about 15 surgeries per year for this condition. He said although B.C.F. is rare, it's a recurring condition (meaning since people continue to have B.C.F. they are continually coming in for surgery). He said that he knows this is a procedure that concerns parents, but he wanted to let us know it's not one that concerns surgeons.

Since he wasn't in the middle of surgery, he could spend more time talking to us than the plastic surgeon. Needless to say, we got a better feel for him and have decided we're going to use him instead.

He checked Logan out quite a bit, and said that everything else on him looked really good. This has not, nor will it, affect his sinuses (the brachial sinus tract actually has nothing to do with them). We are to just keep a close eye on the hole and at the first sign of infection come in immediately (swelling, redness, etc.) If they catch it early usually all that's needed is antibiotics. But it's not something that will go away on its own and, as I said in another post, if infection is not caught early then it can lead to death. (For my other posts about this click here.)

The ENT confirmed what the plastic surgeon said as far as surgery on a cyst after the area is infected is a much more complicated, risky surgery and so that's why it's still necessary to do the surgey while the patient is under a year old (after that it's almost certain Logan's hole will get infected)--but he said there's no harm in waiting until Logan is bigger and stronger. He said the same thing as the plastic surgeon far as babies do well during this surgery and with recovery, and handle the anesthesia the same as adults.

We'll be coming in for a follow-up appointment in November. At that time the ENT will talk about whether a scan is necessary (to make sure there isn't a cyst and to also see if they can tell how far up the fistula goes--some are right at the surface, while others have a hole through the entire tract up to the ear; that will determine which type Logan has and how serious it is. If it's one of the bigger kind then he will have more than one incision in his neck, but they will still be extremely tiny scars).

So, the surgery will now be approximately in January. Hopefully Logan still won't know what's going on and won't be traumatized by the experience! That's the good thing about doing it while he's a baby, and nine months old seems better than three months old.

For the next six months we can put this "brachial cleft fistula" issue aside.

Therefore, in other news, yesterday we finally received the Babies R Us 10% off coupon so we'll go this weekend and finally get the rest of the items from our registry!

I haven't felt light-headed since Sunday night but am taking it easy today just in case. So talk to ya later!