Saturday, March 28, 2009

surgery extravaganza!

hi baby=)

it's saturday. you had surgery wednesday. you were a little bit hilarious before you went into the or. when the anesthesiologist came in to check you out you were flirting with him like mad!! miss tamara came to see you (she was one of our respiratory therapists from the nicu) and she loved seeing your flirtatious side up and roaring=) dr rodgers had already planned on giving you a g-tube, a nissen, and doing a pyloroplasty to help your tummy empty faster. and then a couple hours into the surgery his nurse called us from the operating room and asked if they could take out your appendix. i thought that was funny. the point is that you're getting to the age that appendicitis is kinda common and with all your abdominal surgeries, it would be pretty difficult to find your appendix if they went in just to remove it. so on the phone he said it was sitting right there next to what he was working on and he would just take it out if it was ok with us. it was. so anyway you had quite a surgery!! all those things and an appendectomy thrown in at the end. you did great during the whole thing. he said you were very stable and lost just a little tiny bit of blood. afterwards you were pretty sleepy for a couple days from the anesthesia. the plan was that you couldn't eat anything for 3 days and then we'd start feeding you through your g-tube and get you on your way. well my sweet girl, you are not cooperating...no worries though-we like you fiesty;) we noticed last night that your tummy was really distended (super swollen and tight) so they got an x-ray and it showed a bunch of gas (not surprising) and that you have an ileus in part of your intestines. an ileus is where you have some food stuck in your bowel because your belly hasn't woken up yet from anesthesia and it doesn't realize it needs to work your food on through. that's no good baby. most of the time it wakes up in a reasonable amount of time and you'll poop it right out (sorry to talk about poop baby, but a lot of your wellness revolves around it right now!) but if that doesn't happen you would have to have surgery again because it might mean something else is blocking your food from coming out. yikes. we'll pray that doesn't happen. so i have been spending most of today squeezing and raising and lowering your little g-tube getting all your little gastric juices and gas out of there since they have nowhere else to go right now. it's been helping-your tummy is softer and you seem a little more comfortable. you can do it baby=) and then they also noticed on a chest x-ray that the lower lobe of your left lung looks like it collapsed a little bit and there's some fluid surrounding it. that's not good, but it definitely could be worse. usually it just pops back open after a few days. on to issue #3. you're still having fevers. the first couple days post-op it's pretty normal to have an elevated temperature but it's post-op day 3 and it's a low-grade one, but it's still there. they checked your white blood cell count and drew cultures of your blood and sputum (that's a weird word, huh? it's one of my least favorites) and so far so good. your white count is actually lower than it was a couple days ago. but the temperature is making your heart beat really fast and it's just making us worry a little bit. mommy was so worried about this surgery and i kinda thought i was being crazy...or maybe just a normal mom. but i kept thinking that you've gotten so far and what if some random thing happens with this surgery that sets you back, etc, etc.....and i still am probably just being crazy but i can't help but stare at your monitors constantly and rack my brain over and over to try and figure out why whatever is happening at that particular moment is happening. i guess it's somewhat appropriate because you get tons less attention here (on a pediatric floor) than you did in the nicu...i suppose it's my job now, huh? i don't mind. i just want you to be all better and at home with us. daddy does too. he keeps asking you to just go ahead and poop so we can be on our way. you haven't smiled at all since before your surgery wednesday morning. we are missing you so much. today though you did start playing with your toys again-reaching out for them and putting them in your mouth. you started sucking on your pacifier too. it makes us relax just a little to see you doing those things again. but we do hope to see you smile soon. i was crying a little today thinking about how much i am missing "you" and how i even miss your throw up smell-and i keep doing things that normally make you laugh and you just stare at me. soon enough sweet baby and we'll have you back to normal. better than normal even.

so we'll see how long you stay here. the plan was that you'd stay here a week so this wednesday you'd go home...but i'm not feeling super optimistic about that. that's ok. you just take your time. i love you sweet baby-you and me and daddy will just hang out in this hospital room until you feel better. i am so proud of you=)

mommy

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can I just say how much I love how honest you are with you heart, Katie. Talk about poop all you want, than if Catherine knows that she can just do it already! And yes, amazing baby, you take your time, I know I was known for that in the hospital. Take your time and mommy and daddy will just hang out and wait for you. I do hope you smile soon to warm your parents heart's and minds. But in your own time, Love. I know if you poop you will smile again! I will pray you do not need that other surgery and that your fevers go away. Flirting already at such a young age... prepare yourself now Donnie! :) Love you guys, hugs, prayers and blessings your way. And I hope you are home soon sweet one.

Abby said...

catherine, we'll be praying for you to poop and smile and go home! and strength...and healing...and tons of other things. love you guys.

Katie said...

I'm praying hard for you all!

mommy to Kaden, Brody and angel Ava said...

I hope little Miss Catherine starts feeling better soon. I know how hard it is to go back into the hospital and to have surgery at that. Then when things do not go as planned, how easy it is to start wondering "what if." I am sure she is enjoying whatever it is that you are doing that normally makes her laugh, but she is probably to sore to do so right now. I know that after my c-section with Brody it was very painful to laugh.

I will keep Catherine in my prayers. I hope things start moving through so she doesn't need that other surgery. Thinking about you guys.

Beth Goff said...

Thanks for the update and know yall are in our prayers!!

Brooke Hammel said...

praying for you little baby girl! hang in there!!

Unknown said...

Oh my... i remember a time in life where we were waiting on a little girl to poop. Such a weird thing to be cheering on isn't it? Being a parent is like NOTHING else in life is it??

Hang in there sweetie - all of you of you!!!

The Madsens said...

We're doing the poopy dance for you! And now you're in the no appendix club like me, it makes us special. Maybe one day I can show you the secret handshake. But all funnies aside, we're praying for you and hope to see your sweet smiles soon.

P.S.
I think a poop is coming soon. The letter sequence I had to type to get this to post was, "poolit"!

Nikki said...

I am sad you have to be in the hospital again. I want you to be at home in your bed. I'm praying, loving, and missing you...

Anonymous said...

We will be praying for complete healing and for a big poopie diaper!!!

Rach said...

I first found your blog on Erin's blog when she first asked for prayers for Catherine. I've been popping in to check on her and her progress and on you all as well.

Please know you are all in my prayers. Catherine has had an amazing journey and she is just GORGEOUS! I would love to see Miss Flirt in action. :o)

ALL IN THE FAMILY said...

Katie- thank you for sharing. Still love you and miss you. Praying for you guys often! megan h.

Deb said...

Hi Katie,

I'm on my way out the door to do PALS today, but wanted to send love and prayers your way! I hope that things go well today and your baby girl will be back in your arms in the blink of an eye. If I could fit one more thing in my schedule, I would be Miss Catherine's nurse....that way I could ensure that she's spoiled enough, as if that's a problem:) Take care, and keep the faith!

Lindsey said...

Hi again Katie,

I've been reading your blog posts and I just have to say, it's kind of deja vu like for me to read your journey with the tummy struggles.

Living with the ostomy is DIFFERENT but it's do-able. We just took our son Riley (who has the ostomy) swimming last week and he was just like any other baby.

Again, feel free to contact me at anytime if you have any questions or just want someone to talk to that has experience in ostomies. I'll be glad to help however I can.

Lindsey
http://lindseysouza.blogspot.ccom