GI Update: Surgery and Recovery
I’m exhausted and about to go to sleep before 9pm, but I just wanted to share what we’ve been up to!
Yesterday was The Littlest Apple’s surgery for his g-tube. Here he is in his hospital-issued jammies pre-surgery.
The surgery took about an hour, and everything went well. He did freak out coming out of the anesthesia in the recovery room before we were called back to be with him, enough so that they put him back under for a little longer. He had trouble coming out of the second round too, but luckily he fell back asleep and slept it off for the most part.
We watched LOTS of Curious George yesterday, and visited with my parents and in-laws.
The Littlest Apple was walking down the hall (still connected to an IV pole) the same evening as the surgery.
I stayed at the hospital last night and The Picky Apple went home. We had a long night last night (I did, especially), with a middle of the night accident requiring a full bedding change, some tears about standing to go potty (because it was still hurting him to stand up, and he’s just normally stubborn about going), missing his daddy, and the usual nurse visits every 2-3 hours. Also, the common area with a TV, refrigerators, microwave and ice machine is right outside our door! Have I mentioned that I’m a light sleeper?
Our morning began bright and early around 6am (as usual for The Littlest Apple!) with no fewer than 5 doctor visits from various surgical residents and surgeons.
The Littlest Apple had a great day today, acting at times completely back to “normal.” And by “normal” I mean pushing buttons he shouldn’t be, climbing on things, watching large construction cranes out the window. His recovery has been truly amazing. I was expecting him to be in more pain, but he’s doing great-hardly used any pain meds at all today! We had visits from my parents and The Picky Apple’s parents again today which was a great distraction for The Littlest Apple.
Here he is using his Buzz Lightyear laser…he had great fun pointing it at all the nurses when they came in. And the nurses were all good sports about it.
After being NPO since Sunday night, he finally got to have some water and clear liquids this morning. They tested his new g-tube with some clear Pedialyte, and he ate a few popsicles today. He’s been asking for “hot cocoa” since about 6am (no idea why that in particular!), but unfortunately for him he wasn’t given the “ok” to eat anything but clear liquids just yet.
Since he didn’t take a nap this afternoon, he crashed early this evening, around 6:30. I am a little worried he’s going to decide to start his day at 4:30 in the morning as a result! We’re using the g-tube with his regular formula (Compleat Pediatric) overnight tonight to see how he handles that.
I’m hoping that everything will go smoothly tonight and that we’ll be on our way home tomorrow afternoon! It is already SO wonderful to be able to kiss The Littlest Apple’s cheeks again, and based on how quickly he’s bouncing back, I’d say we made the right decision going forward with this surgery.
My apologies to those of you waiting for responses from me! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get caught up on all the comments and emails once we get home. For now, I’d better sleep while I can!
I’m so glad the littlest apple is bouncing back from his surgery so quickly! He is so cute with his light saber, too!
Thinking if you all tonight. I am sure you made the right decision and so glad he is doing well!
Glad it all went well. Children are so much tougher than we think…very resilient! Hope the transition to home goes smoothly. 🙂 Tanya
I am so, so glad the surgery went well and that his recover is going so smoothly (and quickly!). You must be so relieved! I hope everything goes well when you take him home.
Wonderful news! I’m so glad to hear Finn is bouncing back so quickly. Also, do you get to keep those hospital PJs, because they are awesome!
I’m so glad to hear that the surgery went well! I hope things continue to go as smoothly as they can and you can go home soon!
He looks like he is doing GREAT! So glad you get to kiss his little cheeks again! 🙂
so glad everything went well! Hope it continues and the recovery is smooth 🙂
I’m happy to see everything went well! He is a tough little guy!
Hi there, just wanted to say congrats on what sounds like a relatively smooth G tube surgery. And I wanted to tell you that I just found your blog and really love it. My twins have had G tubes for going on a year and a half due to severe reflux GERD and sensory issues and we’re trying to slowly wean them off so I kind of understand what you’re going through. We have a love hate relationship with our tubes here. Thanks for making a beautiful blog it’s surely going to be one of my daily reads and I was wondering if it’s okay for me to add it to my Favorite Blogs list on my blog? http://taylo2babies.blogspot.com/
I happened to come across your site and saw the GI/ g-tube surgery post.
Parker has a g-tube as well!
Along with a whole host of other stuff. 🙂
I’m glad your guy is doing so well!
Tammy and Parker
http://www.prayingforparker.com
Laura and Tammy,
I’m not sure how either of you found my blog, but THANK YOU for taking the time to comment! This world of g-tubes is still new to us, so I greatly appreciate each of you reaching out to me. I’ll be contacting you privately with a couple of questions!
How is the GT going for you guys now that you have been home? Our little Lilly got her NGT this week. It has been an interesting getting used to period. She has been very gaggy with it and now doesn’t seem to even want to try any regular food at all. I am sure it is just due to trying to figure out how to deal with the feeling of the tube in the back of her throat and then trying to have actual food go down as well. So…all of her calories are now covered by the formula IF she happens to not want to eat. Did you guys have any issues like this when you started with the NGT?
Andrea,
Thanks so much for checking up on The Littlest Apple. He’s doing amazing, and I think we’ve finally found our groove with the night time g-tube hook up routine. We’ve got our surgery follow up next Friday, so I’ll post in more detail then.
As you mentioned, the NGT tube (or any tube, really) takes some getting used to. The Littlest Apple had considerably more gagging while he had the NGT (which seems to have mostly resolved itself now that we’ve switched to GT), but after a day or two, he was willing to eat orally. The gagging was an issue the whole time, which I guess is understandable since there is a tube down the back of their throat. That must feel a little out of place at first. I hope Lilly does well with the NGT, starts gaining weight, and that you and your husband feel a little less pressure now that you’ve got the tube as a backup! Have a great weekend!
Cara,
Lilly is scheduled for her GT next Friday! It has already been a month since she has had the NGT, and the doctor feels that she will actually do better with the GT as well. At least this way she will be able to eat regular food as well and not gag on EVERYTHING she eats. We were able to take the NGT out yesterday and give her a little bit of a break before having the surgery. Did your doctor give you any idea as to how long Finn would have the GT, or is it just a wait and see thing? Hope you guys are doing well. 🙂