June 24, 2006
This week has been a bit tough on Zachary. He seemed to be distressed a lot and his CO2 numbers were between upper 70's to 110. The doctors assure us that they will find vent settings that work for him. Unfortunately his home ventilator started having problems and they had to send it back. They put him back on the hospital ventilator.
Zach had surgery on Friday during which they did a g-tube and Nissen fundoplication. A fundoplication is procedure to help prevent reflux. The upper curve of the stomach (the fundus) is wrapped around the esophagus and sewn into place so that the lower portion of the esophagus passes through a small tunnel of stomach muscle. This surgery strengthens the valve between the esophagus and stomach (lower esophageal sphincter, or LES), which stops his feeds from backing up into the esophagus as easily. The following website has a good description of both procedures.
http://www.sph.unc.edu/oce/phnceac/babyguide/gastrokeep.pdf
Following surgery Zachary's hematocrit was low so they transfused 80cc of blood. He also started running a fever. We're not yet sure why but they've started antibiotics and sent a blood sample to the lab.
We've continued to learn about Zachary's care. Tieryn did her first trach change this week which went smoothly. We've also started to recognize Zach's cues. We won't have all of the NICU monitors when we get home so it's even more important to recognize what he needs by the way he looks and acts.
The plan from here is to let him recover from surgery, try to determine what's causing the fever, start feeds, and get him back on the home ventilator on some stable settings. We look forward to the day when he is more stable and he can concentrate on growing and learning rather than trying to recover from hospital procedures. He continues to amaze us with his strength. He rarely cries when they draw blood from his heels anymore but I'm sure he'll appreciate when they don't have to do it.
Check back again soon. We hope to have some encouraging news.
posted by Tieryn at
6:33 PM
3 Comments:
Jeff and I were happy to see another posting (we check all the time as does everyone I am sure). It is so great to have a place to go to get recent info and see pictures of the not-so-little guy with out having to call and bother you. We appreciate you taking the time to do this for us. We agree with others that Zach is blessed to have such smart and capable parents to help him through this bumpy start to life. This challenge of yours is teaching so many others about the important things in life. We sure love you guys. Looking forward to a good, strong, healthy week for Zach.
We always love to see an update on our favorite patient. He is amazing. I cannot believe all the procedures and complications this kid has overcome. Greg and T you continue to amaze us with the lingo you have learned and your incredible strenghth to keep a positve attitude. We echo the praise to Terry. He is really gunning for that Grandpa of the Year award. He is teaching all of us a wonderful lesson of service and love. We look forward to more news and hopefully a date soon when Zach will be home and with his family. Great picture of Hailey by the way. She is just such a cute girl.
Thanks for keeping this journey written down for all to read. I can tell you have a wonderful, supportive family. Please know my prayers are out there for you even though I never make it over to say hello. And please let me know if there is anything I can ever do to help out. Give the little guy a squeeze!
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