Not Bored

We are not bored. I just had surgery on Friday to correct some complications from my manly surgery last December. Macayla will be having surgery next week to relocate her feeding tube. Jennifer will be having surgery to correct quite a bit of womanly issues in December. Our van apparently decided it was jealous of us getting all the attention, so it decided to blow a hydraulic hose on the wheelchair lift today that will require “surgery” tomorrow.
As it turns out Macayla’s tube site is not clearing up and in spite of several months of medications, dietary changes, endoscopy, cutting, cauterizing, and new tubes Macayla still is not tolerating her feedings and we have blood in her stomach. So the only option left at this point is to relocate her tube and start over fresh. We have decided to go with a different type of tube this time. The tube Macayla currently has (a “Genie”) is held in place by a flange on the inside of her stomach. It is removed by simply yanking it out. The flange is soft and pliable but it still causes trauma to the site when it is yanked, understandably so. It is not a pleasant thing to watch and it is certainly not pleasant for her to experience. We love the “Genie” system because it is easy to use and is very close to the skin so it doesn’t dangle and get caught on anything. But this method of replacement seems to be asking for trouble in Macayla’s case. So we are going to try a “Mickey” (and yes the also make a “Minnie”) because the Mickey has an inflatable balloon on the inside that holds it in place. It will require more attention on our part as the balloon is inflated with about 5 cc of water that should be changed monthly and every few months we will have to replace the tube, but we can do all of it ourselves at home. So, we hope that she will do well in surgery which may end up as out patient this time.