It feels like we just had Thanksgiving and now Christmas is
a mere day away, how does that happen exactly?
We were waiting for Bradley to be put into the hospital for an overnight
PH Probe test. We enjoyed Thanksgiving
with the family and then Friday we were on the phone with Bradley’s Peds GI not
sure we were going to make it through the weekend. But we finally got him in on the Monday after
Thanksgiving. He hated the probe, the
insertion into his nose and down his throat made him gag for almost half an
hour until the Versed they gave him finally started taking effect about a half
an hour too late. But he slept well for
a couple hours and woke up in barely enough time to hug daddy before he had to
leave to get back to pick up the girls from school. They spent the evening together battling
homework and pre-teen hormones, but all in all, it worked out well.
Meanwhile, Bradley and I spent the evening quietly, trying
to keep that probe in place and keep him as comfortable as possible. Mind you he’d been without his Prevacid for
almost five days, so you can imagine how comfortable he wasn’t. His esophagus had some serious burning going
on and getting comfortable was a challenge, staying comfortable was a bigger
challenge and sleeping was pretty much a joke.
Thank God it was only overnight.
He had a couple episodes of gagging but nothing like what we’d had the
Friday before.
Course, I shouldn’t have worried, he was refluxing quite a
bit even without big episodes and that put the GI on the surgery route, but we
had to wait for the surgeon of course.
So we waited and finally were called for the appointment to see
him. Over two weeks after the Probe Test
we got in for the consult, where we learned that the surgeon hadn’t gone
through all the notes he’d been sent. So
starting from scratch we felt like we were trying to plead a case without the
necessary information to formulate a plan on our own. He started suggesting that diet changes might
be in order or that perhaps he needs a G/J tube rather than the G-Tube, to
which I was completely against. I tried
to point out that we are on our way off the G-Tube, that we’re trying to wean
away and don’t need to be weaning him back to a new feeding tube. The surgeon decided that he needed another
Upper GI because the little refluxing he had seen in the first Upper GI was not
beyond normal. He also tried to tell us
that Bradley could throw up if he had too, and I had to respectfully disagree. When Bradley has had the flu all he can do is
gag and retch, he cannot throw up. I was
either convincing or he felt bad for not having read through the PH Probe notes
that had been sent to him because he
sent us over to the hospital for another Upper GI. We were stunned that we were able to get in
the same day. But Bradley’s surgeon is
the top dog in the surgery department and is planning a vacation…so he has some
clout.
As with his first Upper GI, Bradley looked pretty good
throughout. His Peds GI let us know that
at the end he saw the reflux that sent us to the Probe test. This time, the pictures took a little longer
and the Radiologist who said “I don’t see anything concerning” then asked to
take another set of pictures because he thought he saw something at the end
that he didn’t like. He did. His new comment was: “Now that’s concerning.” Bradley was refluxing all the way up, as in a
solid line of black where his white esophagus had been only a few minutes
before.
Two days later, the surgeon called and we have a surgery
date set for Bradley. The surgeon is
gone for the Holidays; of course, so the first Monday he comes back he’ll
perform surgery on January 6th.
The wrap seems to be intact around Bradley’s Esophagus, but there is
movement and quite probably a hiatal hernia that is pushing up through the
sutures. This time the Surgeon will use
BioMesh and try to reinforce the whole area and see if his sutures can battle
Bradley’s body that really wants to kick them out. The most difficult part will be getting
through and cleaning up the scar tissue in his belly, then working on the wrap
itself. We’re hoping for safe passage by
the Esophagus because any injury will result in a longer hospital stay. Until Bradley gets through the surgery, we
won’t really know what kind of Hospital stay to expect, but the surgeon told us
to anticipate at least two or three days…the rest is up to Bradley.
So this year, Bradley is not in the hospital for Christmas
and we know what a Blessing that is. He
is refluxing pretty bad and that leads to gagging and retching – usually,
without much warning. Like in the middle
of Target, that was fun. Or on the side
of the road waiting for the Parade that carried his sisters, that was fun
too. Our concerns are his ability to clear and
knowing that some aspirating can and does happen and that leads to the worst
possible situations for him. We’re
battling a full head this morning and trying to keep this beginning cold from
turning into something sinister.
But it’s Christmas Eve, so that means a big day for all of
us. We did the chocolate chip and peanut
butter cookies and today is the sugar cookie extravaganza. We’ll eat little ham sandwiches while we
watch “Polar Express” or at least that’s what we usually do. At 9 and 11, the girls might be ready for a
new movie or an all new tradition, I’m not sure yet. We didn’t get any of those traditions last
year when Bradley and Daddy were at the hospital, so this might be a new start
to a new tradition or I might be pleasantly surprised to learn that our
tradition is as important to the girls as it was to me. J And
somewhere in the day I will write the kids’ Christmas letters in their
journals; I haven’t missed a year yet, though I’ve been a little late a few
times. But hey, nobody and none of my
systems are perfect, but they work. J
As far as Bradley updates go, this is not the best one to
give, I was hoping for news about the puppy…which is not gestating yet. Grrrr.
We were hoping for good health and the possibility that 2014 would bring
one surgery to maybe close the hole that holds his button. But no. He’ll have a surgery to fix his wrap and from
there we’ll have to just wait and see what will happen next for him.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Here’s hoping the Blessings of the Season will fill your lives with joy
and peace! Thank you everyone for all of
your support this past year, and throughout Bradley’s young life. We are Blessed to have you in our lives.
