Wednesday, 16 Feb 2005:

Yesterday, Gabriella made her weekly visit to the ENT (Ear, Nose, & Throat) clinic at Tripler. In order to minimize Ella’s exposure to the infectious environment of the hospital, each of these visits are very brief. The ENT staff is exceptionally helpful in this regard. They whisk us into a treatment room, well away from the other patients, as soon as we arrive.

The doctor then uses a thin fiber optic scope, which is inserted into Ella’s trach tube, to view her tracheal airway. Everything checked good, so we were on our way again in less than 15 minutes.

The doctors continue to emphasize the importance of keeping Ella healthy prior to her next surgery – currently scheduled for the second week in March.

Pictured left is Lucy doing one of her favorite things – using the instant hand sanitizing gel “Purell” so her hands are not “mucky”.  All for now…

Thank you for your prayers.