Bustin' Loose

Luckily, Jenn and I were pretty groggy when we called to check on Lewis around 3 this morning. The nurse told us that everything was fine, but that Lewis' g-tube button had popped out. Initially, I didn't really realize that she meant the whole fitting had come out, meaning there was a hole in our boy. The nurse was awfully calm about the whole thing. She said the surgeon had come up and fixed it pretty fast. Turns out that this isn't all that unusual, though it merits a trip the emergency room, if it ever happens at home. The g-tube fitting (aka button) is held in place by a small water inflated "balloon" inside the stomach. Lewis' balloon had been intentionally underinflated to try and get the end of the tube in the right place. Anyway, it's all better now, and we didn't have a chance to panic until after the fact. I guess the swelling in his belly went down some, that left the button a little loose. When Lewis wiggled around, out it came.

Feeding/g-tube - the button is back in place now and working fine. In fact, Lewis is up to 20 ml/hour of milk. 25 Ml/h is considered "full feeding", they're upping him to that level tonight. The surgeon thinks that the partial blockage in Lewis' stomach may have resolved with the decrease in swelling - that would mean they could remove the tube in his nose that is there to vent gas. They'll do a barium survey on the g-tube tomorrow to see how things look, but overall the surgeons were pleased with the progress.

Blood Pressure/Blood Composition - Hematocrit levels (red blood cell level) are much improved and platelet levels are back to good levels. Both these numbers indicate that the hematoma in Lewis' stomach is healing. Blood pressure is down to the higher end of the normal range.

Meds - the doctors have decided to cut the Fentonyl off again. The theory is that Lewis was actually unhappy the other day because his tummy was empty, not because of withdrawal. Lewis' last dose was at 2 PM today, so we'll see how he's doing tonight.

Lewis also started back on physical therapy today - the therapist started to work on the stiffness in his limbs and showed Jenn a bunch of things she can start to do with him. Jenn just told me that Lewis also got a visit from a doctor in the Woundoscopy department to look at the area around his g-tube - the doc prescribed some special ointment. Woundoscopy? Who knew?