There wasn’t much to update over the weekend, sadly weekends in the hospital are very long, slow and not much gets done. We tried feeding Noel in small amounts over the weekend but she didn’t tolerate even the small amounts.
Today was a busy day, Noel got another abdominal x-ray this morning which showed that she still has barium in her colon from a swallow study last Tuesday; this isn’t normal for the barium to still be there so we can assume that she has slow moving bowels. We then discussed “the plan” with the Doctors which was: start Noel on TPN (IV nutrition), try cleaning out her bowels and try slowing down her feed rate. But in the middle of the day after another consult from GI the plan changed to placing a GJ-Tube. The overall consensus is that Noel does have a motility problem which means that her stomach is slow at getting her food down into her intestines. She was then taken to Interventional Radiology to place the GJ-tube. The doctor had a difficult time placing the j-tube because Noel’s intestines looped around so much (also could be part of the feeding problems). So as I write tonight she has her GJ tube and they are now starting her IV nutrition until she is able to take her full feed into her new tube.
The bad news is that she has lost weight since we’ve been here; she now weighs the same that she did when we left the hospital 9 months ago; I really hope this tube will help her gain weight. She is also growing some bacteria in her trach (not a big surprise) so she is on antibiotics to help keep it under control.
So for now that’s where things are, I’m hoping that Noel will tolerate her GJ-tube feeds and that we can get her feeding rate up to where it needs to be so we can go home soon. Thanks for checking in on us!
Tina
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Steps for Noel
My feet were burning, the sweat started to drip into my eyes and my throat was as dry as a desert; but I didn’t even care. No pain or discom...
3 comments:
Tina, I will be praying for you and Noel. Thank you for keeping me informed about all that is going on.
Not sure if I've ever commented on your site before, but hang in there. I can totally relate to the hospital scene and having your girl be so sick. Will keep you in prayer.
Oh Tina, I am so sorry Noel is having so much trouble. You can't keep this habit of coming to Denver and staying longer than you expected. I don't want you to get scared away from visiting!!
I will be praying so hard that she makes progress and gets better soon. I may be passing through Denver on my way up to Fort Collins Saturday. If I do, and if you are still there, I will try to come visit. I don't think I have your phone #, so if you could e-mail it to me, that'd be cool. anjcortez@hotmail.com
Love you guys,
Alicia
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