Hope has congenital tracheomalacia, which explains why she sounds like she has croup with each and every cough or cold--regardless of how mild the cough or cold!
Tracheomalacia is very uncommon, and occurs when the trachea cartilage does not harden. The cartilage normally hardens by the age of 18-24 months in children with tracheomalacia.
However, at 5-years-old, Hope still suffers greatly. Her trachea never hardened. Thus, her trachea (cartilage) collapses into her windpipe. Then, when she has a cough or cold, the minimal swelling that normally occurs--which is usually not a problem for most people--cuts off the little bit of air passageway she has. Thus, she struggles greatly with breathing when she has the slightest illness.
There is no cure and there are no surgery options. Thus, we pray that if God would so choose, He would heal her by allowing her trachea to harden.
In the meantime, Hope is quite loopy from being under anesthesia, so I'm going to be snuggling with her today.
Thanks for caring!
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