Surgery Scheduled...

It's been a while since I posted any information about Charly's medical status...so here goes.

Charly has been relatively "stable" in NICU land for quite a few weeks. She has not needed any sort of medical intervention and has just been growing. She is only taking a multivitamin and her feeds through her NJ tube. She hasn't been able to eat anything orally, but she enjoys sucking on her pacifier. She has more periods of awake time, but generally, Charly is a pretty easy going, sleepy baby.

This week has been a big week for us. We are still very much on the NICU roller coaster, however, we are seeing the last few up and downs and they don't seem quite as big as the initial drop into the NICU.

Charly is scheduled for surgery this Friday. Because she is not able to eat, she needs to have a feeding tube surgically placed into her stomach. She is getting a G-tube no matter what (Short for Gastronomy tube - which goes from the skin of the belly into the stomach). You can read all about the G tube at: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/ext/Dcmnt?ncid=520977813

Today Charly had a PH probe inserted into her esophagus that measures her reflux (you can see it coming out of her right nostril). If she has reflux...she will also have a Nissen surgical procedure performed. This is one that I am very nervous about. Because of the possible neurological problems Charly faces...she might not be able to properly protect her airway from food, acid or stomach contents. If this is the case...it could be fatal. Food and other properties can't be absorbed in the lungs, and it could mean big trouble to our little Charly. The Nissen surgery basically takes parts of her stomach, and wraps it around her esophagus in order to create a tighter sphincter...so that NOTHING can ever come up out of her stomach (she won't aspirate her reflux, or be able to throw up). You can read more about the Nissen by going to: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/ext/Dcmnt?ncid=520407981

We met with Dr. Meyers today. She gave us our options and the meeting was very informative. It was hard to see our little baby hooked up to IV fluid (she's NPO - or not able to eat anything for the next 24 hours). She was really sleepy today, and was only a little fussy from being hungry. Tomorrow we should have more information on her test results.

I also had a meeting with the hospital today. I feel SO MUCH better. I really do feel that the NICU wants to take care of my little sweetie pie, and I just need to keep calm (and call my mom). A special thank you to my mom, and to John...for being so helpful and picking me up this week - when I have been down!

It's very likely that Charly will have at least one if not both of the surgeries performed on Friday.