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Chase Alexander was born on June 19th, 2009 at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Jersey. My labor and delivery was fine and didn't provide any signs that anything was wrong. When Chase was born he was limp and didn't cry. When I asked "what was wrong" and "why he wasn't crying" we were told he needed a little encouragement. However, it became very apparent very soon that something was wrong. He was having trouble breathing and the nurses were trying to bag him. Soon, there were a lot of people in the room and my husband and I were so scared and confused because we didn't know what was going on. Shortly after, Chase was intubated. He was taken to the NICU where he remained intubated for 5 days. He was given steroids to reduce the swelling that the doctors assumed was in his throat. In the meantime, number of test were done including a brain and throat MRI, brain CAT Scan, Chest X-ray and other test. They all came back negative. While intubated Chase pulled out the tube twice and was sedated as a result. On the fifth day, the doctors removed the tube with the hope that Chase would be able to breath on his own. This was not the case however. That same day, the ENT performed a bronchoscopy and larengoscopy and diagnosed him with bilateral vocal cord paralysis with no known cause. With our consent, he performed a trachostomy to help him breath.
Chase was in the NICU for 3 weeks 2 days. He as been home since July 13. He drinks breastmilk from the bottle and continues to thrive. At the moment we have the support of nurses for 16 hours, which has provided some relief. Its been very difficult to deal with the situation when he is a healthly boy in every way and yet we dont know why he has this condition. On August 8th, the ENT scoped him for the first time since the trache but saw no movement. This was very devastating for us as we had hoped that there would be some progress. The ENT told us that we still have time (6 months to a year) but the waiting is very difficult. He is such a beautiful baby and is begining to make some noises and we are hoping that is a good sign.
Anybody who is experiencing the same situation, I would love to hear from you.
October 13th, 2009 Update - as of September 10 Chase's vocal cords are still not moving. The trip to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia was disappointing as they didn't do anything different than his regular ENT and I guess we expected them to do some testing in order to figure out why his vocal cords are paralyzed.
On a more positive note, his ENT prescribed the Passy-Muir speech valve on October 6th but he told us he probably wouldnt be able to tolerate it because of his condition (his vocal cords are paralyzed in a closed position). Boy was he wrong. Chase wore the passy-muir for over 5 minutes the first time and subsequently has been wearing it for over 3 hours every day after that. Its been really amazing to hear his voice.
Novemeber 16th, 2009 Update - today we went to see Chase's ENT for a routine check up. After scoping him he told us unbelivable news - his left vocal cord was moving and he wouldn't rule out movement in the right one but he couldn't tell. While he is not ready to be decannulated yet, this is hopefully the first step towards that. We have been praying for this and hopefully his vocal cords will continue to improve. We are due to see the ENT in January again.
February 4, 2010 Update - today we went to Children's Hospital in Cincinnati to meet with dr. Cotton. Chase has the swallow study with no problems. Then, dr. Cotton did a bronchoscopy to see if his vocal cords are moving. Unfortunately, he saw very little movement. We are scheduled to go for another evaulation in August. If there is no significant movement, we are scheduled to have vocal cord latelarization surgery in September. I am hoping we will not have to do this as it would compromise his voice somewhat but am realistic that this is the only way to get the trach out. If anyone has had this surgery please email me.

• Gender: Male
• Demographic Region: North America
• Siblings: None
• Medical Conditions: vocal cord paralysis

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48 weeks 3 days

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United States

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New Jersey