Katie Rose Tracheal Resection Surgery August 5th

Hi, we are the Johnson Family and for the past 11 years we have had the joy, privilege, and honor to help our daughter, Katie Rose, LIVE!

Born a 25-week preemie and living the first 19 months of her life in the hospital, Katie Rose came home with the works. Tracheostomy, ventilator, feeding tube, and more medications than we can even count. At times, we were told our daughter would never sit, stand, walk, or talk. She defied everything.

At the age of 3 her trach was removed and our new life, tube free, began. Therapies have continued, oxygen is a daily occurrence and we don't know what we'd do without inhalers!

After 11 years, the time has come to address Katie Rose's airway. Due to having a trach for 3 years, her airway is SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than the average human. It was the doctor's hope that when she finally grew (SHE DID!) her airway would grow with her. Unfortunately, it did grow but only vertically. Making her airway barely accessible with the smallest pediatric scope.

To put it in Layman's Terms... She breathes in through a drinking straw and out through a coffee stir stick. Therefore, the CO2 build-up in her body is always extreme.

Tracheal Resection surgery is serious. It's an extremely complicated and tedious surgery. None of us will lie, we are scared to death. By far this is THE SCARIEST decision we have ever made. But in the end, we have prayed and Katie Rose deserves to make this decision that will alter her life for the better.

The surgery will be done at Denver Children's Hospital on August 5, 2022, and will last anywhere from 8-12 hours. She will be intubated and paralyzed for a minimum of 2 weeks to allow her new airway to heal. Our hope is she will easily wake up and we will be home by the end of August. Then, over the course of the next 12 months, we will return to Denver Children's Hospital monthly for additional surgeries to dilate and restabilize her airway if necessary.

Funds raised will go to support medical expenses, travel to and from the hospital (1.5 hours each way), and living expenses at the hospital campus.

Katie Rose is 11. She has played the viola for 3 years and loves practicing every day. Friends and family who know her find themselves drawn to her candor and honesty. She LOVES basketball too and yearns for the day she can run up and down the court and keep up with her teammates.

Ultimately, this surgery will give Katie Rose the life she has been fighting for every day for ELEVEN YEARS. It will give us peace of mind to know she can breathe like everyone else and isn't in danger of her airway collapsing in the event of a medical emergency.

We are SO GRATEFUL to you for your support and prayers as we embark on this journey.