Right now Elijah is stable and still intubated, but the medical staff will not extubate Elijah. At this point, the doctors do not believe that he will survive on his own without being intubated, since adequate oxygen would be unable to reach his lungs. They are recommending surgery to try to lessen the airway constriction that the tracheal rings are causing. The risks to fix the tracheal rings are very high since this type of surgery is very rare, and this hospital has only experienced one other case similar to Elijah's. In that previous case, they sent the family to Stanford to have the surgery done. Unfortunately, in that case, the baby had even more complications after the surgery, eventually leading to a brain aneurysm. The medical staff currently believes that, if Elijah survives the surgery, he will experience a myriad of other complications and may have to breathe through a tracheotomy for life. The Cardiac and ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) teams will meet to consult and research other doctors and hospitals that have more experience with tracheal rings. Hopefully, they are able to find teams who are more experienced in this type of surgery on newborns, and who are much more confident about the outcome of the surgery. Either way, Mike, Rowena and family have some really tough decisions ahead of them. Please pray with us that God will guide them all into making the best decisions for God's will and glory and for Elijah. Please help us in this journey to find the right doctor for our son to be well, any donations will be greatly appreciated.
