Over the last 10 days Jaylie has been doing well.
Jaylie is up to just about 4lbs 14oz :).
The lower bowel refeedings have being going well.
Jaylie did have to go on the nasal cannula for a couple of days to give her a bit more oxygen but is off the oxygen now.
The last couple of visits Jaylie has been a bit fussy which is a new experience for us but a good sign she is growing and maturing like little babies do :).
We meet with the surgeon tomorrow to discuss the reconnection surgery for Jaylie's lower bowel.
We are vastly approaching the 44 week mark at which they usually kick you out of the NICU.
Though the Swedish NICU is a great facility with awesome staffing, Kristina and I are really looking forward to not having to visit them each day...
As always, thank you so much for your prayer and support!
I will post some new pictures asap.
Nathan, Kristina & Jaylie
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Jaylie - Day 90 - week 40 2/7
This last week has been a good week. Jaylie has grown in size and weight. Jaylie is now +1900 grams = 4lbs 3ozs, yay!
The Dr's are talking about doing the contrast tests again of Jaylie's intestinal track to see if everything is moving through in a healthy way.
This week Jaylie had a some stool in her diaper (which is a good thing). That means the lower intestinal track is functioning somewhat, as to how much it is functioning the Dr's will test over the next week by GI contrast tests and if those go well the Dr's will start refeeding (refeeding is not a subject for the faint of heart. To read some context on what refeeding is and how it's done you can read these nurses comments: refeeding) to engage the lower intestinal track to see how the lower intestinal track is behaving. If all goes well (refeeding and testing) the surgeon will reform another surgery to reconnect the ileostomy. There were be a 10 day or so recovery period after the surgery, after the recovery, if all goes well, Jaylie would then be able to come home yay! There are ALOT of if's in there, but overall things are going well. Jaylie is growing and maturing.
As always, thank you so much for your pray and support! It it appreciated beyond words!
Nathan, Kristina and Jaylie
I have posted some new pictures from this week: HERE .
Here is a picture from this week:
The Dr's are talking about doing the contrast tests again of Jaylie's intestinal track to see if everything is moving through in a healthy way.
This week Jaylie had a some stool in her diaper (which is a good thing). That means the lower intestinal track is functioning somewhat, as to how much it is functioning the Dr's will test over the next week by GI contrast tests and if those go well the Dr's will start refeeding (refeeding is not a subject for the faint of heart. To read some context on what refeeding is and how it's done you can read these nurses comments: refeeding) to engage the lower intestinal track to see how the lower intestinal track is behaving. If all goes well (refeeding and testing) the surgeon will reform another surgery to reconnect the ileostomy. There were be a 10 day or so recovery period after the surgery, after the recovery, if all goes well, Jaylie would then be able to come home yay! There are ALOT of if's in there, but overall things are going well. Jaylie is growing and maturing.
As always, thank you so much for your pray and support! It it appreciated beyond words!
Nathan, Kristina and Jaylie
I have posted some new pictures from this week: HERE .
Here is a picture from this week:
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Jaylie - Day 82 week 39 1/7
This week was better than last week for the Jaylie. Jaylie is doing a lot better than last week. Her stomach swelling is all pretty much gone, yay!
Jaylie is tolerating her feeds really well, but is not putting on weight and actually losing weight (keep in mind, Jaylie is only using her upper digestive track to process feeds due to the ileostomy surgery ). Jaylie is down to 1600 grams (3lbs 8.3oz). Becaus of this weight loss, the doctors have put Jaylie on a predigested formula to hopefully help Jaylie start putting on weight. Hopefully Jaylie will start to put on weight with this new formula.
Other than the weight issues (which is a serious issue) Jaylie is doing well! We are able to hold and interact with Jaylie which is awesome!
The week before last was a tough week for us. Jaylie's surgery and the Doctors setting expectations with us as to what to expect regarding Jaylie's care after we get her home were taxing events to process and recover from. Kristina and I are still recovering from those events.
Jaylie's prayer requests:
As always, Thank you SO much for your prayer and support! We really appreciate it!
Nathan, Kristina and Jaylie
Here is a video and picture from this week:
Jaylie's Feb pictures: HERE
Jaylie is tolerating her feeds really well, but is not putting on weight and actually losing weight (keep in mind, Jaylie is only using her upper digestive track to process feeds due to the ileostomy surgery ). Jaylie is down to 1600 grams (3lbs 8.3oz). Becaus of this weight loss, the doctors have put Jaylie on a predigested formula to hopefully help Jaylie start putting on weight. Hopefully Jaylie will start to put on weight with this new formula.
Other than the weight issues (which is a serious issue) Jaylie is doing well! We are able to hold and interact with Jaylie which is awesome!
The week before last was a tough week for us. Jaylie's surgery and the Doctors setting expectations with us as to what to expect regarding Jaylie's care after we get her home were taxing events to process and recover from. Kristina and I are still recovering from those events.
Jaylie's prayer requests:
Intestinal development
Overall development and grow
As always, Thank you SO much for your prayer and support! We really appreciate it!
Nathan, Kristina and Jaylie
Here is a video and picture from this week:
Jaylie's Feb pictures: HERE
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Jaylie - Day 75 - week 38 1/7
Today we went to visit Jaylie and attend a 'Care Meeting' scheduled by the nurses and Dr's to go over Jaylie's current condition and to go over what to expect we Jaylie comes home.
I am happy to say today's visit went really well. Jaylie is off the ventilator and started feeds today! That's crazy good! AND Jaylie is in an open bed breathing room air on her own (AWwwWESOME)!
Kristina got to hold Jaylie for a couple of hours today. Jaylie was really sensitive to touch due to the surgery this week and coming off anesthesia. After fussing for a bit, Jaylie settled down enough for Kristina to hold her for a couple hours which was really good for mom and Jaylie, yay!
After Kristina held Jaylie for a couple of hours, we went and got some coffee then met with the nurses and Dr's to have a 'Care Meeting'. During this meeting the nurses and Dr's advised us of Jaylie's current conditions, what to expect concerning mid-term goals and what to expect long-term.
Jumping to long-term goals, the Dr's explained Jaylie is an uber small baby. The Dr's explained only 1 out of 3 babies born at 5XX grams survive, so for Jaylie to survive and do well is AMAZING! The Dr's continued on to explain, with Jaylie being so small, most babies born this small have developmental 'troubles' in life. I asked what the Dr's meant by 'troubles', they explained 'troubles' meant possible mental cognitive delays, physical growth delays and usually fine motor skill delay's. The Dr's explained these delays can be minimized by starting to see an occupational therapist as soon as Jaylie gets home. The Dr's continued to advise one of the better occupational therapy centers is just down the street from where we currently live (isn't God awesome!). We discussed some deals around what to expect long term and went over Jaylie's growth chart a bit. Here is Jaylie's current growth chart:
Looking at the chart above, the little dots towards the bottom of the graphs is where Jaylie's numbers fall. Jaylie's numbers are way below the normal percentile ranges, but that is ok because we serve and AWESOME GOD whom has blessed us with amazing miracles so far! We believe He will continue the good work He has started in Jaylie :)
Moving on to the immediate and mid-term goals.
The short term goals is to get Jaylie going on feeds and putting on some healthy weight. The pediatric surgeon would like to double her weight from 1500 grams to 3000 grams. The pediatric surgeon hopes to double Jaylie's weight (hit the 3000 grams number) within a couple of weeks (2-4 weeks or so). Then, after Jaylie has put on a good amount of weight using the upper intestine track and the stoma, the surgeon will be looking to test and hopefully reengage the lower intestine, then close up the stoma, then let Jaylie rest a bit after the stoma closing surgery, then send Jaylie home! If things go perfectly, the surgeon advised we could probably be taking Jaylie home in mid March.
The Dr's completed the MRI for Jaylie and it came back looking good. The Dr's said they could see where there had been a previous bleed (when Jaylie was first born and had a major setback) and how the bleed has healed. The Dr's said they did not see any problems at all with Jaylie's MRI.
Summary, today was a really good day, the end of another episode and the beginning of another period of growth and recovery. We received good news from the Dr's confirming all the tests done (biopsy's included) came back negative and Jaylie's is shining like a super start with her recovery.
Kristina and I are looking forward to getting back to helping Jaylie grow and mature instead of stressing about tests and stuff. We are relieved and excited to see what God has in store for us these coming weeks.
Pray requests: If you would like things to pray for you here are a couple of things Jaylie will have to overcome:
Of course, I'm sure you all can see and think of other things not mentioned above, those are the quick things I can see and think of at the moment.
As I've mentioned several times already, Kristina and I are supper ready to be done with this week and are ALL the way ready to start a new BETTER week :).
As always, thank you SO much for your prayer and support! We really appreciate it!
Nathan, Kristina & Jaylie
PS: Thank you ALL for those that participated is Kristina's baby shower this last Saturday, she loved it! You all did a great job, thank you!
I am happy to say today's visit went really well. Jaylie is off the ventilator and started feeds today! That's crazy good! AND Jaylie is in an open bed breathing room air on her own (AWwwWESOME)!
Kristina got to hold Jaylie for a couple of hours today. Jaylie was really sensitive to touch due to the surgery this week and coming off anesthesia. After fussing for a bit, Jaylie settled down enough for Kristina to hold her for a couple hours which was really good for mom and Jaylie, yay!
After Kristina held Jaylie for a couple of hours, we went and got some coffee then met with the nurses and Dr's to have a 'Care Meeting'. During this meeting the nurses and Dr's advised us of Jaylie's current conditions, what to expect concerning mid-term goals and what to expect long-term.
Jumping to long-term goals, the Dr's explained Jaylie is an uber small baby. The Dr's explained only 1 out of 3 babies born at 5XX grams survive, so for Jaylie to survive and do well is AMAZING! The Dr's continued on to explain, with Jaylie being so small, most babies born this small have developmental 'troubles' in life. I asked what the Dr's meant by 'troubles', they explained 'troubles' meant possible mental cognitive delays, physical growth delays and usually fine motor skill delay's. The Dr's explained these delays can be minimized by starting to see an occupational therapist as soon as Jaylie gets home. The Dr's continued to advise one of the better occupational therapy centers is just down the street from where we currently live (isn't God awesome!). We discussed some deals around what to expect long term and went over Jaylie's growth chart a bit. Here is Jaylie's current growth chart:
Looking at the chart above, the little dots towards the bottom of the graphs is where Jaylie's numbers fall. Jaylie's numbers are way below the normal percentile ranges, but that is ok because we serve and AWESOME GOD whom has blessed us with amazing miracles so far! We believe He will continue the good work He has started in Jaylie :)
Moving on to the immediate and mid-term goals.
The short term goals is to get Jaylie going on feeds and putting on some healthy weight. The pediatric surgeon would like to double her weight from 1500 grams to 3000 grams. The pediatric surgeon hopes to double Jaylie's weight (hit the 3000 grams number) within a couple of weeks (2-4 weeks or so). Then, after Jaylie has put on a good amount of weight using the upper intestine track and the stoma, the surgeon will be looking to test and hopefully reengage the lower intestine, then close up the stoma, then let Jaylie rest a bit after the stoma closing surgery, then send Jaylie home! If things go perfectly, the surgeon advised we could probably be taking Jaylie home in mid March.
The Dr's completed the MRI for Jaylie and it came back looking good. The Dr's said they could see where there had been a previous bleed (when Jaylie was first born and had a major setback) and how the bleed has healed. The Dr's said they did not see any problems at all with Jaylie's MRI.
Summary, today was a really good day, the end of another episode and the beginning of another period of growth and recovery. We received good news from the Dr's confirming all the tests done (biopsy's included) came back negative and Jaylie's is shining like a super start with her recovery.
Kristina and I are looking forward to getting back to helping Jaylie grow and mature instead of stressing about tests and stuff. We are relieved and excited to see what God has in store for us these coming weeks.
Pray requests: If you would like things to pray for you here are a couple of things Jaylie will have to overcome:
1) Jaylie's long term developmental growth
2) Physical size (being smaller than all the other kids her size)
3) Mental cognitive development
4) Upper and lower intestine health
5) Bladder health
6) Growth and maturity
7) Guidance for Kristina and I as parents help us see and make the right decisions
8) Guidance for the Dr's, nurses and Jaylie's care takers that they would see and make the best decisions for Jaylie as well
Of course, I'm sure you all can see and think of other things not mentioned above, those are the quick things I can see and think of at the moment.
As I've mentioned several times already, Kristina and I are supper ready to be done with this week and are ALL the way ready to start a new BETTER week :).
As always, thank you SO much for your prayer and support! We really appreciate it!
Nathan, Kristina & Jaylie
PS: Thank you ALL for those that participated is Kristina's baby shower this last Saturday, she loved it! You all did a great job, thank you!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Jaylie - Day 74 - week 38
YAY! This week is almost over! Praise the Lord! ForReal!
Jaylie is recovering well from her exploratory surgery this week. She's progressing nicely. The Dr's are planning to start feeding Jaylie possibly today based upon her recovery.
There was a scary this week during Jaylie's recovery when Jaylie started shaking and not stopping. The Dr's ordered anti-seizure medication right away. As soon as the Dr ordered the medication Jaylie stopped shaking. Because of this shaking event, the Dr's ordered a round of test to look at Jaylie's brain to check to see if the shaking was seizure related or if there was any other brain issues going on. The first test was an EKG where the Dr's found brain activity that if continued for longer than 10 seconds would be considered seizure activity but this activity the Dr's were seeing only lasted for 3 seconds at a time. Based upon the EKG test results, the Dr's decided to order an MRI.
So, I'm guessing you're wanting to know where we stand on all the tests and what the Dr's are thinking eh? You're in luck, I have then answers :).
I asked the Dr's this week what the short term and long term plan for Jaylie was and were we sat in regards to the surgery, tests and biopsy's completed this week. The Dr's advised all the tests came back negative for any disease or sickness (good news). The Dr advised they were planning to take Jaylie off the ventilator and start feeding withing the next day or so as long as they could get the MRI scheduled and completed. The Dr's advised to complete the MRI they needed to keep Jaylie on the ventilator and would most-likely have to give Jaylie a small sedative during the MRI. The Dr's then advised the rest of the details around Jaylie care were being determined by the pediatric surgeon.
I was able to talk to the pediatric surgeon to gain perspective and what the Dr's were thinking around Jaylie's condition, what their plan was to treat the condition and what the plan was going forward. The Dr's advised the condition they believe Jaylie has is called 'Sudo Bowel Blockage' meaning, her lower bowel swells up and acts like it's blocked but the bowel is not blocked. The surgeon advised the current course of action is to use the upper intestine to grown Jaylie to around double her current weight (1500 grams), then perform some tests on her lower bowel to see if the stoma can be reversed and the lower bowel reengaged for use again. The Dr's and I discussed a lot of gory details around how they will go about testing the lower bowel for use of which I will spare you :).
There are a lot of scenario's the Dr's and I discussed as to what could happen (with Jaylie intestinal issues), ultimately the Dr's are not sure what is going to happen but believe Jaylie is in the larger percentile for all of these issues to work themselves - though there is always the possibility the challenges Jaylie is currently facing could turn into life long issues. I personally believe and have faith Jayile will make a FULL recovery!
This week has been a challenging week to say the least.
Jaylie is recovering well and growing. Jaylie weights 1729 gram = 3lbs 13oz now.
As always, we truly appreciate your prayer and support! Thank you SO much!
Nathan, Kristina & Jaylie
Jaylie is recovering well from her exploratory surgery this week. She's progressing nicely. The Dr's are planning to start feeding Jaylie possibly today based upon her recovery.
There was a scary this week during Jaylie's recovery when Jaylie started shaking and not stopping. The Dr's ordered anti-seizure medication right away. As soon as the Dr ordered the medication Jaylie stopped shaking. Because of this shaking event, the Dr's ordered a round of test to look at Jaylie's brain to check to see if the shaking was seizure related or if there was any other brain issues going on. The first test was an EKG where the Dr's found brain activity that if continued for longer than 10 seconds would be considered seizure activity but this activity the Dr's were seeing only lasted for 3 seconds at a time. Based upon the EKG test results, the Dr's decided to order an MRI.
So, I'm guessing you're wanting to know where we stand on all the tests and what the Dr's are thinking eh? You're in luck, I have then answers :).
I asked the Dr's this week what the short term and long term plan for Jaylie was and were we sat in regards to the surgery, tests and biopsy's completed this week. The Dr's advised all the tests came back negative for any disease or sickness (good news). The Dr advised they were planning to take Jaylie off the ventilator and start feeding withing the next day or so as long as they could get the MRI scheduled and completed. The Dr's advised to complete the MRI they needed to keep Jaylie on the ventilator and would most-likely have to give Jaylie a small sedative during the MRI. The Dr's then advised the rest of the details around Jaylie care were being determined by the pediatric surgeon.
I was able to talk to the pediatric surgeon to gain perspective and what the Dr's were thinking around Jaylie's condition, what their plan was to treat the condition and what the plan was going forward. The Dr's advised the condition they believe Jaylie has is called 'Sudo Bowel Blockage' meaning, her lower bowel swells up and acts like it's blocked but the bowel is not blocked. The surgeon advised the current course of action is to use the upper intestine to grown Jaylie to around double her current weight (1500 grams), then perform some tests on her lower bowel to see if the stoma can be reversed and the lower bowel reengaged for use again. The Dr's and I discussed a lot of gory details around how they will go about testing the lower bowel for use of which I will spare you :).
There are a lot of scenario's the Dr's and I discussed as to what could happen (with Jaylie intestinal issues), ultimately the Dr's are not sure what is going to happen but believe Jaylie is in the larger percentile for all of these issues to work themselves - though there is always the possibility the challenges Jaylie is currently facing could turn into life long issues. I personally believe and have faith Jayile will make a FULL recovery!
This week has been a challenging week to say the least.
Jaylie is recovering well and growing. Jaylie weights 1729 gram = 3lbs 13oz now.
As always, we truly appreciate your prayer and support! Thank you SO much!
Nathan, Kristina & Jaylie
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Jaylie - Day 70 - week 37 3/7 (surgery post op)
The Dr's were able to fit Jaylie into surgery today. The Dr's have completed the exploratory surgery recommend and Jaylie is recovering currently. The Dr's did NOT find any conclusive evidence or condition that would conclusively explain why Jaylie's stomach has been so descended. What the Dr's DID find is Jaylie's lower bowel is extremely swollen and not working the way it should -- as to why it's not working the way it should the Dr's are not sure of. The Dr's took several biopsies of the lower bowel and colon to test for disease and infection though they are not convinced there is any disease or infection. The surgeon decided to perform a loop ileostomy on Jaylie to give the lower distressed bowel and chance to recover an heal. The surgeon said she did not see any unhealthy bowel or dead bowel. You can read more about ileostomy HERE.
The Dr's have advised Jaylie will have a stoma for the next little while buying time for the lower bowel to heal (Yes 'little while' is vague time frame. The Dr's have not been clear as to how long Jaylie will have a stoma -- based upon yesterday's conversation with the Dr's, Jaylie may have a stoma any where from a couple of days to a couple of months).
The Dr's have advised the biopsy results should be back by Thursday.
Jaylie is resting now and doing well.
We will keep you posted as to what is to come. There will fore sure at least another surgery to close up the stoma if no other issues are found.
As always, thank you SO much for your prayer and support!
Nathan, Kristina & Jaylie
A picture from before the surgery:
The Dr's have advised Jaylie will have a stoma for the next little while buying time for the lower bowel to heal (Yes 'little while' is vague time frame. The Dr's have not been clear as to how long Jaylie will have a stoma -- based upon yesterday's conversation with the Dr's, Jaylie may have a stoma any where from a couple of days to a couple of months).
The Dr's have advised the biopsy results should be back by Thursday.
Jaylie is resting now and doing well.
We will keep you posted as to what is to come. There will fore sure at least another surgery to close up the stoma if no other issues are found.
As always, thank you SO much for your prayer and support!
Nathan, Kristina & Jaylie
A picture from before the surgery:
Monday, January 25, 2010
Jaylie - Day 69 - week 37 2/7
I've been trying to get an update out but have obviously failed to do so until now. Things have changed quite a bit over the last couple of days. The Dr's originally advised they did not see anything abnormal with the Upper and lower GI's completed, therefore they were perplexed as to what was going on and started to explore other possible diseases, one of which being a colon biopsy to test for a nerve disorder.
The Dr's advised last Friday they were going to let Jaylie rest through the weekend and do a colon biopsy first thing Monday morning (today). We got a call from the Dr's early this afternoon advising they decided not to do the colon biopsy after additional review of the xray's and GI tests done. The Dr's advised they were seeing something in the xray's which may be causing the swelling and bloating of Jaylie's stomach and would like to do another Upper GI before looking into any other possibilities. We agreed to another Upper GI test which was completed this afternoon. The results from the Upper GI show there is a small loop of upper intestine which is twisted 180 degrees. This intestinal twist is reducing the flow through Jaylie's bowel. I don't remember if I have mentioned it or not but Jaylie has had an descended (swollen) stomach pretty much from birth. The Dr's and nurses advised Jaylie's stomach being descended was a common problem premature babies experience, and can be caused by a myriad of different issues, most of which premature babies can just grow out. With today's findings, (In my opinion) the most likely cause of Jaylie's stomach being descended (swollen) this whole time is due to one of Jaylie's intestine loops being partly twisted causing a partial blockage. This blockage is still allowing stuff to pass through, but is keeping from flowing through as fast as it should, which is cause a blockage, which is causing swelling, which then causes breathing problems and-so-on-and-so-forth. This partial intestinal twist is called Intestinal Malrotation. You can read about Intestinal Malrotation HERE.
Based upon today's findings, the Pediatric surgeon has suggested exploratory surgery to determine how much, if any, damage has been done to the intestine due to the partial twist. The exploratory surgery finding will range from no intestinal damage to damaged intestinal section which would have to be surgically removed.
If during the exploratory surgery the surgeon finds no damage to the intestinal track, the surgeon will untwist the bowel then stitch Jaylie up. The recovery time for this option would be 3-4 days -- this would be the best case scenario.
On the flip-side, if the surgeon's find damage to the intestinal track sever enough that it cannot be repaired, the procedure is to remove the section of track that is damaged. If a section of intestinal track has to be removed, the Dr's will assess as to whether the now disconnected intestinal track can be immediately reconnected or if the track needs time to heal before being reconnected. If (yes this is A LOT of if's...) the Dr's decided to leave the intestinal track disconnected to allow for healing, the Dr's will route the two parts of the intestinal track into a bag outside of the stomach. The recovery time for this scenario could be 8 weeks or longer.
To summarize, based upon the surgeon's finds tomorrow, Jaylie's recovery time could be any where from a couple of days to a couple of months.
As you can imagine, that last 10 days or so have been difficult to deal with. Kristina has had a really tough time because she hasn't been able to hold Jaylie because Jaylie is back on the ventilator. The Dr's advised us early on there would be ups and downs and this is definitely a down.
We are relieved to be on a path to treating this problem which has been plaguing Jaylie for a while but also apprehensive of what is to come.
We will make sure to keep you up to date as to how the surgery goes tomorrow.
As always, Thank you SO much for your prayers and support! We really appreciate it!
Nathan, Kristina and Jaylie
Here are a couple of pics from this week:
The Dr's advised last Friday they were going to let Jaylie rest through the weekend and do a colon biopsy first thing Monday morning (today). We got a call from the Dr's early this afternoon advising they decided not to do the colon biopsy after additional review of the xray's and GI tests done. The Dr's advised they were seeing something in the xray's which may be causing the swelling and bloating of Jaylie's stomach and would like to do another Upper GI before looking into any other possibilities. We agreed to another Upper GI test which was completed this afternoon. The results from the Upper GI show there is a small loop of upper intestine which is twisted 180 degrees. This intestinal twist is reducing the flow through Jaylie's bowel. I don't remember if I have mentioned it or not but Jaylie has had an descended (swollen) stomach pretty much from birth. The Dr's and nurses advised Jaylie's stomach being descended was a common problem premature babies experience, and can be caused by a myriad of different issues, most of which premature babies can just grow out. With today's findings, (In my opinion) the most likely cause of Jaylie's stomach being descended (swollen) this whole time is due to one of Jaylie's intestine loops being partly twisted causing a partial blockage. This blockage is still allowing stuff to pass through, but is keeping from flowing through as fast as it should, which is cause a blockage, which is causing swelling, which then causes breathing problems and-so-on-and-so-forth. This partial intestinal twist is called Intestinal Malrotation. You can read about Intestinal Malrotation HERE.
Based upon today's findings, the Pediatric surgeon has suggested exploratory surgery to determine how much, if any, damage has been done to the intestine due to the partial twist. The exploratory surgery finding will range from no intestinal damage to damaged intestinal section which would have to be surgically removed.
If during the exploratory surgery the surgeon finds no damage to the intestinal track, the surgeon will untwist the bowel then stitch Jaylie up. The recovery time for this option would be 3-4 days -- this would be the best case scenario.
On the flip-side, if the surgeon's find damage to the intestinal track sever enough that it cannot be repaired, the procedure is to remove the section of track that is damaged. If a section of intestinal track has to be removed, the Dr's will assess as to whether the now disconnected intestinal track can be immediately reconnected or if the track needs time to heal before being reconnected. If (yes this is A LOT of if's...) the Dr's decided to leave the intestinal track disconnected to allow for healing, the Dr's will route the two parts of the intestinal track into a bag outside of the stomach. The recovery time for this scenario could be 8 weeks or longer.
To summarize, based upon the surgeon's finds tomorrow, Jaylie's recovery time could be any where from a couple of days to a couple of months.
As you can imagine, that last 10 days or so have been difficult to deal with. Kristina has had a really tough time because she hasn't been able to hold Jaylie because Jaylie is back on the ventilator. The Dr's advised us early on there would be ups and downs and this is definitely a down.
We are relieved to be on a path to treating this problem which has been plaguing Jaylie for a while but also apprehensive of what is to come.
We will make sure to keep you up to date as to how the surgery goes tomorrow.
As always, Thank you SO much for your prayers and support! We really appreciate it!
Nathan, Kristina and Jaylie
Here are a couple of pics from this week:
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