For the entire story of Hunter's GI Nightmare go to the following posts:
The Beginning of Hunter's GI Nightmare.
The Middle of Hunter's GI Nightmare
Almost the End of Hunter's GI Nightmare
So after our discouraging appointment with the surgeon we went to St. George for Spring Break vacation. It was nice to get away but it was a tough trip to make. 4 hours in a car with a kid that cant keep anything down was not convenient in any way. We finally arrived. The vacation was a much needed get-a-way for our family.
I spoke to the GI doctor and told him of the surgeons response. He was shocked to say the least. He told me this was a "hole-in-one" fix for Hunter's symptoms. He suggested we consult with a different surgeon, Dr. Black, and prior to our visit he would talk to Dr. Black himself. So that's what we did.
We consulted with Dr. Black and was in for surgery on April 19th. The surgery name is Nissen Fundoplication. This surgery entails a partial separation of the spleen from the stomach and then taking the top hump of the stomach and wrapping it around the esophagus and stitching it back to itself. This creates a one-way valve and makes everything going down stay down.
The surgery was uneventful and Dr. Black felt like it went very well. The surgery took about an hour and a half. As a side note, months after the surgery and I received the surgery notes it said that they didn't account for all of the medical devices and so they had to x-ray him to make sure they didn't leave anything inside of Hunter. Nothing showed up on the x-ray so I guess we are safe to say they removed everything. Phew.
Friday, April 19th:
Here we are getting Hunter all dressed in his hospital attire. He is not new to this routine so he was not happy that he was here.
Hunter was given some medication to make him sleepy and groggy. It always works good and fast for Hunter.
Hunter had to get some mommy kisses before going in for surgery.
After surgery he went into recovery. Only one parent can go to him while in recovery (this stinks but Tyler always lets me go). When they took me back they took me and another mom. As soon as I entered the recovery area I could hear Hunter crying. I had to wait for the other mom to be shown to her child before they took me to Hunter. I felt terrible hearing him cry and not being able to rush to him and console him. This is Hunter right after they gave him some pain meds to calm him down. It did help a little when I got to his bedside.
I took a quick picture of his incision. Not too bad considering.
Poor Hunter. So sad.
Once we were taken up to our room we didn't know what to expect. When he had his kidney surgery one year ago (March 2012) it took him about 24 hours to wake up. I was hoping it wouldn't take that long. Once we got to his room he was a bit fussy and very tired. For a while all he wanted was to have me hold him. I held him and he calmed down and went to sleep.
The tube in his nose is to vent the air in his tummy and to drain any residual blood. It was quite large and was not comfortable for him.
When we put him in his bed he wiggled all over, put his arms above his head and feel back to sleep! What a brave little man! All we could hope was that he would sleep well over the next 3 days in the hospital.
Saturday, April 20th:
Awake and happy watching Cars! Notice that his tube is out of his nose with the tape still on his cheek...... he jerked his vent tube out during the 1st night. At this point we were just waiting for the bowels to kick in so we could feed the little guy. He hadn't been able to eat since Thursday night (April 18th). And nothing to drink since 10:30 Friday morning (April 19th) . He couldn't take anything orally until he had bowel function. He was a pretty good camper.
Tyler came up and spent time with Hunter every day. I looked forward to his visits. Tyler had double duty with taking care of Justin and Fisher at home and then coming to see Hunter in the hospital.
We liked to go on walks when Dad came. It helps to have someone pull to wagon and someone push the IV tower.
Hunter usually got sleepy on our walks.
He feel asleep sitting up.
We just wheeled him into his room and let him have a nap in the wagon.
He always perked up when we let him play the iPad. He doesn't look too happy in this picture but the iPad was his happiest moments.
Sunday, April 21st:
Making progress. He is holding down liquids. Can't start on solids until tomorrow.
Monday, April 22nd:
Hunter was finally able to eat something! He was first allowed to eat clear liquids and then once he held them down he was able to start on soft purees. He looked so good with a bib on that wasn't full of regurgitated food.
More wagon rides to pass the time. He looked at books while mom and dad walked.
On one of our many walks we saw Super Man. Hunter figured the brothers would like to see this.
Asleep in the wagon again but looking so much better.
Grandma Sing came up to see Hunter. I took the opportunity to go to the cafeteria to eat all by myself.
Here is his incision a couple days post-op.
The morning of discharge was hard. Hunter wanted to get down to play. He was tired of the wagon, the bed and mom's lap. The nurses brought in a mat and some toys so Hunter could get down! Hooray!! This was a life saver! At this point we were still waiting for him to poop. He was holding down his food well so pooping was the only thing left.
Ready to go home.......
Finally!!! The outside world! So happy we were on our way home!
Hunter perked up on the way home. He was so cute looking all over the place.
Having the surgery done was a weight off our shoulders. Now we just needed to wait a few weeks to see how successful it was. This was scary for me. I didn't know if Hunter cold survive much more regurgitation.
Thank you to those who helped us with Justin and Fisher, made a visit to see Hunter, and brought us treats. We have such a wonderful support system!
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