Another Surgery and a New Tube

Wednesday morning Teryn went into surgery. The plan was to do an endoscopy for the surgeon to go in and get a good look around inside. He also planned to put in a new feeding tube. This time we wanted to do what is called a "button." This one would sit almost flush against her skin instead of always having a long extender hanging from it.

Anesthesia and intubation went very well. The surgeon said once he got in he saw that her original tract (hole) was definitely lower than he would like and could possibly have caused her previous tube to sit on her pylorus and cause some blockage. He decided to go ahead and create a new tract and inserted the new button tube.

Here is a picture of the type of tube she has had up until now (actually hers was a little longer because she had another smaller tube fed through it to go straight to her intestines):

Here is the type of tube she has now. It is called a Mic-Key button.

Here is what it looks like against the skin. This is not a picture of Teryn, but it is essentially the same. Teryn's site is still pretty sore and still has sutures. The surgeon wanted to give it a day for the site to heal. Yesterday around lunchtime we attempted a feeding dosage. We started with pedialyte since it would be less irritating if she refluxed it. Two hours later we began seeing a very small amount of leakage from her old site (hole). So, we stopped the feed immediately. Later in the day she did need quite a bit of suctioning but it was hard to tell if it was because she was refluxing the pedialyte or if it was from the chest congestion she has developed since surgery.

The respiratory therapist came and saw her last night and gave her a breathing treatment to break up some of the congestion. They also did an xray to make sure there was no pneumonia. It was clear Praise the Lord! The doctors also ordered several blood tests to check white cell counts, check for RSV, and also general electrolytes. Everything came back great. The hardest part was trying to get the blood for the tests. Teryn has so much scar tissue over her veins from having so many IVs in her little life. It has always been difficult, now even more so. A couple of our old friends from the NICU came over to help. Thank you Noni for being the hero once again! Thanks Cassie for also coming to help out.

This morning the surgeon came in and said we could try feeds again. Teryn's normal amount is 35 mls per hour. We decided to start slow with 10mls per hour. Today we also decided to do formula instead of pedialyte so we could definitely tell if she was refluxing. So far there has been very minimal leakage around her site. She has had small amounts of reflux. The upper GI study we did Tuesday does show that she has mild reflux. I am just hoping that it does not continue to increase. It is 9pm and we are currently up to 20mls. We will continue to increase the amount as we she she is tolerating.

Her biggest discomfort today has been trying to cough. Her pediatrician thinks that this is just what a cold is going to be like for her. Luckily she hasn't been sick before. The only two times she has been sick has been when she is in the hospital. We come in healthy and she gets sick.

Her pediatrician has given his okay for discharge tomorrow if the surgeon clears it. It will all depend on how much food she is able to tolerate without reflux and checking the leakage around her tube.

When we go for our follow up in a couple weeks we will be able to discuss options for trying different kinds of feeds and possibly even a little water by mouth!!!!!

In an effort to find the silver lining in an unwanted, long hospital stay....at least we got to see many of our wonderful NICU friends who came to visit while we were here. Everyone is so amazed at how big Teryn is getting. They are loving her chunky legs and her lovely long lashes.

We are really hoping to be discharged soon. Mainly because we are just ready to go home. The only time I have made one step out of this hospital room was for her GI study and surgery. Also because she has an out of town MRI scheduled for Monday. It took 3 months to get this appointment. She has to have a sedation nurse with her for the procedure so it is tricky to get the appointment we need. I scheduled for Monday since it is a school holiday and I wouldn't have to take yet another day without pay.

She is sleeping soundly now. We will bump her feeding dose up again at 4am and keep observing and praying.

Thank you Lord for the progress we are seeing.