Trach or trache?  I know everyone spells it without the 'e', but that makes me want to pronounce it with a short 'a' sound and "ch," like chin.  What a horrible word.  It looks wrong.  The term is not technically correct in the first place, it is just a shortening of tracheostomy.  Slang.  I can spell the nickname for my daughter's surgery the way I want, right?  Maybe not.  I will probably cave.  Google, which is never wrong, reports that medical transcription accepts both trach and trake as abbreviations.  Trach just has to be wrong, and trake sound like a toy.

Sarah will have her trache placed today.  We hope.  It is an "add-on procedure."  That means that they will fit us in where they can.  Barring cancellations, we are "scheduled" to go in when Dr. Pena finishes her actual schedule, at 4 p.m..  If there is an emergency, we get bumped (which might mean next week, since it is Friday.)  If there is a cancellation, we go at once.  If she runs late with her other surgeries, we will go late.  

For at least five days following the surgery, Sarah will be considered a "critical airway."  That means that no one except ENT can touch the trache- though I assume that respiratory therapists will still be giving her regular breathing treatments.  After the first trache change, nurses and respiratory therapists will be allowed to care for the site, the suctioning, and whatever medicine she needs- all of which they will be teaching me and Josh.    

I talked to the the hospital case manager today.  Her goal is to have the nursing in place by the 25th, so that if Sarah is ready, home nursing and equipment will not hold her up.  That would be ten days after the surgery, which is pretty optimistic, but it is possible.  

From now until the surgery, I am spending my time thinking through what we will need and where we will put it.  We will be getting rid of a twin bed because in its place we will need a desk and chair.  We will empty the closet, making room, we hope, for all her supplies.  I am pretty sure the only new furniture we will need is a desk and chair- until the new baby comes, of course.  I have no idea how we will sort that out, but one step at a time.  

For now, I am off to make lists of what we have to collect, clean, move and sort to get ready for these big next steps.