I decided to start this blog to document Calebs journey through his recent Mandibular Distraction surgery. As you may or may not know, Caleb was born without being able to breathe like other babies, and he had to have an emergency tracheostomy tube placed when he was 4 weeks old. He has a small jaw and a larger tongue, and his tongue blocks his airway and doesnt allow him to breathe the way he should be able to. He had a mandibular distarction done on August 8, 2012, and this is his journey through it and hopefully through Calebs decannulation... ( or simply getting his trach out).
Let me explain how this works.. his bottom jaw is cut on both sides and pins are placed inside the jawbone, metal distractors are placed on each side of his jaw coming through the skin and those are turned by a special device 3 times a day. This turning moves the jaw out a little bit every day. The goal is to move his jaw out 20 mm or 2 cm, which will create a bigger airway and force his tongue to lay flat, allowing him to breathe through his nose.
Here are some pictures so its easier to understand...
These are the distractors that get turned every day. Once the jaw is in the desired location they are removed. It doesnt seem to bother him at all when they are turned, as its only 1 mm a day split into 3 turns.
After Surgery
Waking up a bit...They are called no nos on his arms, just so he cant bend his elbows and touch his face .
The next day, we got him dressed and cleaned up and out of bed. What a difference a day makes!
Home and In our bed, watching cartoons . Swollen and bruised but happy...
