| Samuel was born with bilateral vocal cord paralysis. When he inhales, his vocal cords do not move apart to allow air to his lungs as they would in a normal person. Thus he had to work very hard to breathe. After spending extensive time in Sacred Heart hospital in Spokane, a trach tube was put in Samuel's throat, and later on a feeding tube (seen taped to his cheek) was inserted, as he wasn't eating enough. On March 23, Joe and Ginny took Samuel up to Spokane for a routine checkup. After scoping his throat, one side of Samuel's vocal cords appear to be working intermittently and the other side barely functioning. On June 6, they returned for Spokane for a checkup, and both of Samuel's vocal cords were completely healed!!! Scar tissue was removed from his throat on July 10th and his trach was taken out. Samuel seems to be doing fine without the trach and is enjoying being trach-free. He has been able to go to church several times, and in general just be a carefree kid. :-) |
