G-tube

Sorry we're slow posting anything on this. Last Tuesday, the 21st, Sam had a gastric feeding tube put in so that we can get more food in him. While his curiosity for food is increasing, he's still very picky and doesn't have much of an appetite. In order to gain weight he needs about 3 cans of Boost formula (Kids Essentials 1.5) a day, and on a good day he'll drink one and a half. The feeding tube will help him get the calories he needs, and it's a nice way to give him his medicine without making him gag or destroying his teeth.



Here's Sam in pre-op. He couldn't have anything to drink after 7:30 a.m., and his surgery didn't happen till 11:30 a.m., so he got pretty cranky. They gave him a fluid bolus through an IV, which helped a little, but he didn't really calm down till the anesthesiologist gave him versed. Then he became disturbingly complacent and his eyes eerily vacant.

The surgery went very well, although it was an hour and a half longer that planned because Dr. Rollins found two inguinal hernias while he was in there. The hernias weren't a problem for now, but he said they could cause problems down the line, so he fixed those up while Sam was still under.



Recovery was not fun. They wouldn't let Sam have anything by mouth because they wanted to prevent the newly placed G-tube from moving too much. Sam has to have water all the time though, so he was pretty miserable Tuesday night. It didn't matter how much painkiller they gave him, he just wanted water. He cried for several hours and finally they called in a surgery resident, who said to give him what he wanted. They unplugged his G-tube and let him drink to his heart's content, about a liter in all, and it all just drained out of his tube. He finally calmed down and went to sleep. One of the problems was that his IV was for a normal baby his size, but Sam gets dehydrated very quickly, and it took a lot of complaining to get the doctors to up his fluid dose. Once he had an appropriate IV drip going he was pretty content, although he wanted to be held all the time.



We thought we'd be leaving by Thursday, but Sam threw up a lot of his feeds, and they wanted him at full capacity before they discharged us. Sam's poor little stomach just couldn't handle it, and by Sunday they realized that there was nothing the hospital could really do, and that we'd have to work with him to build up to the full feeds. They gave him erythromycin to help with gastric motility, but so far that hasn't seemed to help much.

Since he's been home he's done a lot better. He still throws up some, and we often have to vent gas bubbles out of his tube, but he's a happy kid and is moving around again at full speed. He still has a hard time at night, and we usually turn the feeding pump off from 1:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., just to give him a break.

Thanks to all the awesome friends and family who came and visited Sam in the hospital, and who helped give Ashton a break! And thanks for all the meals and presents for Sam! It's a good thing people like this kid.