Foker Procedure Launch

After 76 long days, we finally reached the place and point that our surgeon,  Dr.  Jennings, will start the Foker Procedure.  It is still a long ways to go from here but a very important 1^st step.  First of all, we were told it was going to be a long procedure but we had no idea how long that would really be.  Ariana our little warrior princess was brought into the operating at 8am, she was not brought out of the OR until, 12am.  Yes, that would be a 16 hour surgery.  The surgery was made more difficult, by the prior attempts in Portland but the surgeon felt like she will still be a good candidate.  I can barely handle a 30-minute dentist cleaning so I already know she’s tougher than me.

The thoracic inlet (in thru the neck) had lots of scarring so they cut a little at a time, so that they didn’t hit any major blood vessels or damage the vocal cords.  The lower end of the esophagus they trimmed the scar tissue and they also lowered the diaphragm which was brought up for some reason in the prior PDX surgeries.

Both upper and lower esophagus were set on traction with sutures on the left side, which he will apply daily tension and try to get 1mm or 2mm of growth a day.  They may still need to go in a few more times if the sutures are pulled out or if they need to replace the sutures (about every 2 weeks).  We did find out the EA gap is currently 6cm, which is pretty large for a little body.

We kissed her good night and went home around 1am, exhausted and emotionally drained but hopeful and relieved that she has made it this far.  She’s a special girl and we want to be able to take her home.