Macayla’s feeding tube was relocated on Wednesday. They removed the old tube and create a new hole a couple of centimeters over to put in a new tube. It was supposed to be a 45 minute process and we had decided to put in a tube called the “Mic-Key” since it is one we can change out at home. When the surgeon got in, he discovered that there wasn’t as much play in her stomach as we had hoped for. In order for these feeding tubes to work, they pull the stomach up against the abdomen wall. As it heals, the stomach basically adheres to the abdomen wall at that location. They had to make a bigger incision to free up the stomach a little more in order for it to stretch over better and pull up to the location of the new tube site. But this incision created a problem with the type of tube we had selected. The Mic-Key is held in place by a water-filled balloon inside and that was not going to be good next to this incision, so the doctor had to make a decision on the table and put in what is called a Bard Button. It has a more ridged flange inside. From the outside, it looks like the valve on a beach ball after it has been pushed down and is flush with the surface of the ball. It has a little flap with a stopper on it that folds over and closes it off and there is a valve inside the tube that is supposed to allow fluids to come in but not come out. We will use this for the next 4 weeks and then after she has healed we will change it out in the doctor’s office with a Mic-Key.
The surgery took an hour and 45 minutes and Macayla did well. But when she woke up from the anesthesia she threw up a bunch of blood that was left over from the surgery. She threw up bile twice more, once during a contrast study to make sure the feeding tube was working properly. It was a long day since we have to suction her every time she throws up to prevent her from suffocating. This bile and blood would have normally drained off of the stomach and into a trap that is connected to the feeding tube, but the trap was clean. Nothing was draining. We could push stuff in her feeding tube but we could not drain or decompress her. Decompression is important because it helps remove excess air and check for blood in her stomach contents. Without decompression, she would start throwing up again when
we got home. We tried everything but it didn’t work and to the point we stayed an extra night in the hospital. We discovered that as we got more food and Pedialite in her stomach she decompressed better. The surgeon said the stomach needed to stretch back into position now and should work fine. Decompression has been more successful but inconsistent. But the button they had to put in her has been a pain to work with. The tube that attaches to it for feeds does not lock on so it easily comes out. We discovered this our first night home as I gave Macayla her meds. As I was pushing meds through the tube, the tube disconnected from the button on her tummy and spewed the medicines in her lap and chair instead of into her stomach. There was no chance of her shirt, pants or wheelchair having a seizure with all the meds they had on them. But we mixed up more meds gave her a dose and this time made sure the tube stayed in place. After we disconnected the tube, the button wouldn’t stop leaking. Stomach contents kept pouring out of it. The little valve inside was not working. We put the little stopper back in and to keep the stopper from coming out while Macayla slept, we put gauze and tape over it. Not ideal on a fresh surgical site. I hope things improve with this button or it will be a long 4 weeks.
The surgery took an hour and 45 minutes and Macayla did well. But when she woke up from the anesthesia she threw up a bunch of blood that was left over from the surgery. She threw up bile twice more, once during a contrast study to make sure the feeding tube was working properly. It was a long day since we have to suction her every time she throws up to prevent her from suffocating. This bile and blood would have normally drained off of the stomach and into a trap that is connected to the feeding tube, but the trap was clean. Nothing was draining. We could push stuff in her feeding tube but we could not drain or decompress her. Decompression is important because it helps remove excess air and check for blood in her stomach contents. Without decompression, she would start throwing up again when
we got home. We tried everything but it didn’t work and to the point we stayed an extra night in the hospital. We discovered that as we got more food and Pedialite in her stomach she decompressed better. The surgeon said the stomach needed to stretch back into position now and should work fine. Decompression has been more successful but inconsistent. But the button they had to put in her has been a pain to work with. The tube that attaches to it for feeds does not lock on so it easily comes out. We discovered this our first night home as I gave Macayla her meds. As I was pushing meds through the tube, the tube disconnected from the button on her tummy and spewed the medicines in her lap and chair instead of into her stomach. There was no chance of her shirt, pants or wheelchair having a seizure with all the meds they had on them. But we mixed up more meds gave her a dose and this time made sure the tube stayed in place. After we disconnected the tube, the button wouldn’t stop leaking. Stomach contents kept pouring out of it. The little valve inside was not working. We put the little stopper back in and to keep the stopper from coming out while Macayla slept, we put gauze and tape over it. Not ideal on a fresh surgical site. I hope things improve with this button or it will be a long 4 weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment