"Their gonna fix the leak in my neck."

This has been what Zoa has been chanting the last few days. What leak, you ask?...

Hours after Zoa was born, we noticed a little spot right above her collarbone that had drainage. After we asked her doctor about it, they said that it was a bronchial cleft. The last few weeks, the drainage (Zoa's only symptom) has increased. Surgery has been discussed since birth, with our goal waiting until she was about five years old. (In November, Zoa will be four.) After talking to her regular pediatrician, she implied that surgery was the only option for a full cure. It was at this time, we asked to be referred to St. Louis Children's Hospital for the surgery.

We woke up this morning for the drive. Our appointment was at 10:30 am we were in Dr. David Molter's office about 30 minutes later. We talked about the surgery - risks, the procedure itself, etc. There are different types of bronchial clefts, and he will not know what type it is until he gets in there. (For the record, she does not have a cysts, that we know if.) We decided to proceed with the surgery. At this time, it started asking about other medical conditions and pasts issues. We told him she had an umbilical hernia. He asked if we would be interested in preforming both surgeries at the same time. We told him we were, as we had already discussed this together before we came.

The doctor then told us he would call the Dr. Patrick Dillon's ( a general Surgeon) office to see about getting in to see him today. After meeting with a partner of Dr. Dillon's (Dillon was in surgery - go figure!), he agreed that he thought the hernia would not close on it's own since it has not showed any sign of that yet. It was decided that both surgeries would be together.

The total surgery time will last anywhere from 2 1/2 - 3 hours. (Eeek!) Dr. Molter's portion of the surgery would take the majority of this time (1 1/2 - 2 hours), depending on how bad it is once he starts, and then Dr. Dillon would come in and do his part.

We should be expecting a phone call within a day or so to find out when the surgery will be done.

Now that the business part has been said, I want to tell you how freakin' great St. Louis Children's is!!! It is amazing! Everything about it is obviously kid friendly, from the parking lot to the elevators (once you reach your floor, a little girl's voice comes over the speaker telling you "You have reached the 4th floor."). The doctor's are soo all about the kids! Dr. Molter talked to Zoa for about five minutes - goofing off with her - before he even introduced himself to us. It has so many good ratings and top awards and now I know why! (Top 10 in the Country, Best Hospital's in 2008 and Best Nurses Award) We know we made the right choice. If you have any issues, I cannot recommend it enough.

That is all for tonight. We are exhausted. Last night we were in ER because Zoa cut her eye and required some Dermabond. Everything is fine now and that story will come soon, but for now, I am going to bed.

Thanks for all your prayers. I know everything will be fine but the only thing that concerns us is the anesthesia. Three hours is a long time. I will worry about that later though.

G'Night!

(Hospital photo via.)