Surgery #4

Isaac's been crying for the last two hours, and now, thanks to a warm bath, random toys that really don't belong in a bath tub, and some background music, he's happy.

Bright and early this morning, after very little sleep, we made our way to the hospital so that Isaac could have surgery to remove the PEG tube and replace it with a Mini Button. There are several benefits to the having the button instead of the PEG, but at the moment, I'm trying to get used this new system and new port openings that are much tighter and smaller than the other ones. Isaac doesn't appreciate much fiddling around with his tube so he still has the extension attached to the button (I'll share pictures another time, so that this all makes sense).

The surgery went well. In typical Isaac fashion, he had to cause trouble and this time had a bronchospasm. He was treated in a few different ways during surgery for asthma and then they kept him intubated a little longer just to make sure he would be able to breathe well on his own. The procedure he had is actually very quick, no more than about ten minutes, but he was also having a bunch of blood drawn to check growth hormones and several other things, so it took quite a while to find a vein and do all of that business. As a result of the bronchospasm, the anesthesiologist wants us to follow up with the doctor to discuss a potential asthma diagnosis and the next time he has surgery he should take steroids for three days prior. Sure, why not? I almost thought we were running out of specialty doctors, but I'm so excited to add another one to the list. I can't imagine how boring life would be without Isaac's busy schedule. I hope you know I'm totally kidding. The other day I literally spent three hours on the phone taking care of Isaac's "business".

Oops, Isaac is about to fall asleep in the tub. I'll be back....


Well, the bath led to a very sleepy state but not sleepy enough to actually stay asleep. So we drove around. Which leads to another story in which I got a flat tire...yesterday. So I still have the spare tire on my car because of course, my other tire was irreparable and I won't get a chance to get a new one until tomorrow. Fun stuff.

You know what's really funny when your child is tube fed? When people, like nurses, who should be smarter than this ask:

"Does he take anything by mouth?
"No"
"Does he like the cherry pedialyte, because that's what we have."

I'm sure his stomach would be fine with whatever flavor you have. Wait, no! He can't stand cherry! Do you have grape? It has to be grape. Sigh...


I was pretty excited about Isaac's weight until this morning when they weighed him and he was 16 pounds 12 ounces. Grrrrr.

Sorry. No pictures this time, but while Isaac and I were in the operating room and he was holding his hair and making his angriest face at the doctors while we waited for the anesthesiologist, I had a fun photography conversation with one of the male nurses, which worked out as a very good distraction from all of the emotions involved with leaving Isaac in the operating room.