Sofia Johansson - Laterofixation

We live in Finland, but the surgery was done in Gothenburg, Sweden. Sofia has had tracheo/laryngomalacia but she has outgrown that. Her main problem that was left was that her vocal cords didn't move enough when she inhaled (paralysis?). They didn't want to use laser because that is permanent and if her voice (or eating) should have been damaged, it would had been for life. This method allows the doctors to "go back to where they started". They put a "thread" around her right vocal cord to pull it open, and if the voice should have been damaged, the doctors would have been able to loosen it up a bit.

This was done twice (two threads on different places but on the same vocal cord) during this summer of 2003 and in November, 26, 2003 she was successfully decannulated after 7 1/2 years living with her trach. The best thing is that her eating goes well (as well as it did before this surgery anyway, she was born with esopageal atresia long gap, her whole eating tube was missing) and her speaking is OK, a little raspy, but she speaks and sings and in her parents mind she sounds GREAT!