I just got a call from one of the OR nurses with a surgery update: Everything is going well! Dr. Hebra is reportedly nearing the end of the hernia repair procedure, and he's been able to accomplish everything through an abdominal incision; therefore, he won't need to cut open Jude's chest to attempt a dual approach. That's great news! Also, since the OR nurse made no mention of it during our conversation, it sounds like there was no need to remove Jude's spleen. Praise God!
Once Dr. Hebra has completed the hernia repair, the next part of the surgery will involve placement of a G-tube. Provided the G-tube procedure goes well, the final part of the surgery will be the Nissen anti-reflux procedure, which will involve the use of stitches to wrap the upper part of Jude's stomach around the end of his esophagus.
We are really encouraged and thankful for the good news we've received so far! Please continue to pray with us that the rest of the surgery goes well! More to come!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Surgery Has Begun!
Jude's status on the tracking board in the waiting room has changed, and his surgery is now in progress! We don't know exactly how long the procedure will take, but we're estimating that it will probably take at least several hours. Jude's surgeon deferred on giving us any projected time frame, but another member of the team that'll be in the OR said the surgery would be "long."
Please continue to pray with us that the Lord would carry Jude safely through the surgery. We will pass along any updates that we receive from the staff in the operating room. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
Update: One of the OR nurses just called, and as of 15 minutes into the surgery, everything is going well. She'll be calling us again in approximately 90 minutes to give us another update. Stay tuned!
Please continue to pray with us that the Lord would carry Jude safely through the surgery. We will pass along any updates that we receive from the staff in the operating room. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
Update: One of the OR nurses just called, and as of 15 minutes into the surgery, everything is going well. She'll be calling us again in approximately 90 minutes to give us another update. Stay tuned!
Surgery to Begin Much Later Than Expected
Hi, folks!
So Jude's surgery was scheduled to begin at 1 pm, but the surgical case before his took much longer than expected, so he didn't even leave the surgery holding area until 3:45. As yet, we don't think that the surgery has actually begun, but we expect to get an update very soon.
We'll keep you posted!
So Jude's surgery was scheduled to begin at 1 pm, but the surgical case before his took much longer than expected, so he didn't even leave the surgery holding area until 3:45. As yet, we don't think that the surgery has actually begun, but we expect to get an update very soon.
We'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Details on Tomorrow's Surgery
So here are a few additional details about tomorrow's surgery that weren't included in the last post:
Thank you for following the story of Jude and our family. It's been a tough year since we learned about his diagnosis and a tough 8 months since his birth -- time fraught with fear and anxiety, but also many blessings and great joy.
If you feel led to do so tonight or tomorrow, please pray with us that Jude's surgery will be successful and that the Lord would show favor to him and everyone who has a part to play in his healing. Please feel free to share Jude's story and/or our request for prayer if you are inclined to do so.
- The surgery is scheduled to start at 1 pm. We don't know how long the surgery will be, as that will be largely dependent on exactly what Jude's surgeon finds after he's begun. The plan is to move our little man's organs back into their proper places, close the defect (i.e. the hole in Jude's diaphragm) with a patch, do an anti-reflux procedure called a Nissen fundoplication, and place a gastrostomy feeding tube (G-tube).
- The defect is believed to be smaller than the past two hernias. Today, Rose had a conversation with Jude's surgeon, Dr. Hebra. After he reminded her that Jude has very little natural diaphragmatic tissue, he went on to say that, in this case, he believes the hole that has allowed Jude's stomach to move into his chest is actually somewhat small. Generally speaking, this is good news.
The belief is that part of the GORE-TEX patch, which was used to close the hole in Jude's diaphragm during his last hernia repair operation, has partially pulled away from the posterior side of Jude's chest / thoracic cavity. X-rays taken over the past two weeks appear to show increasing amounts of Jude's stomach in his chest. First, part of the stomach was up. Then, a majority of it was up. And now, all of it appears to be in the chest. But while Jude's stomach is up, all of his other abdominal organs are clearly still down -- that is, except for one.
- We're not exactly sure where Jude's spleen is located. This might seem a strange thing to say, but all it means is that his spleen hasn't been clearly visualized on the imaging tests that have been done recently. This fact could ultimately be insignificant, but Dr. Hebra expressed a possible concern about it when talking to Rose today.
There are some blood vessels that run between the stomach and the spleen, and it would reportedly be very hard to stop the bleeding from these vessels if they were damaged. If Jude's spleen is still below his diaphragm, then it could potentially present a challenge to move Jude's stomach back down through his defect without damaging the vessels connected to the two organs. If Dr. Hebra can't move the stomach down without damaging these vessels, or if he thinks that it would be too risky to try, then it's probable he would try moving the stomach via incisions in both the abdomen and the chest. (The present game plan involves surgery through the abdomen only.)
If the worst were to happen and Jude started bleeding profusely from the vessels in question, then Dr. Hebra may be forced to remove Jude's spleen completely. Pray with us that this won't be necessary!
- Jude may recover from his surgery in a little more than a week. Rose and I were a little surprised at this, particularly since Jude took so long to recover after his previous hernia repair surgeries. However, we were reminded that his recovery period is expected to be shorter because he's bigger and stronger than he was before. We know that anything can happen (and with Jude, it usually does), but the prospect of a quick recovery and subsequent discharge? Yeah, we're cool with that. :)
Thank you for following the story of Jude and our family. It's been a tough year since we learned about his diagnosis and a tough 8 months since his birth -- time fraught with fear and anxiety, but also many blessings and great joy.
If you feel led to do so tonight or tomorrow, please pray with us that Jude's surgery will be successful and that the Lord would show favor to him and everyone who has a part to play in his healing. Please feel free to share Jude's story and/or our request for prayer if you are inclined to do so.
Third Hernia Repair Surgery Tomorrow!
Sorry that we haven't posted an update in a few days, folks. Things have been a little busy!
So yesterday morning, we found out that Dr. Hebra, the surgeon who performed Jude's two previous hernia repair surgeries, wants to do his third hernia repair operation tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon. In addition to addressing the recurrence of Jude's hernia, our understanding is that Dr. Hebra will also do an anti-reflux procedure called a Nissen fundoplication and place a gastrostomy feeding tube (G-tube), which goes directly into the stomach. More details about the surgery and the specific time are forthcoming, but this is what we know at the moment.
As always, we covet your prayers for Jude's health and for the wisdom and skill of the medical staff caring for him. God is good, and we know he'll carry us through this next trial.
Thanks, friends. We'll keep you posted!
So yesterday morning, we found out that Dr. Hebra, the surgeon who performed Jude's two previous hernia repair surgeries, wants to do his third hernia repair operation tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon. In addition to addressing the recurrence of Jude's hernia, our understanding is that Dr. Hebra will also do an anti-reflux procedure called a Nissen fundoplication and place a gastrostomy feeding tube (G-tube), which goes directly into the stomach. More details about the surgery and the specific time are forthcoming, but this is what we know at the moment.
As always, we covet your prayers for Jude's health and for the wisdom and skill of the medical staff caring for him. God is good, and we know he'll carry us through this next trial.
Thanks, friends. We'll keep you posted!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
And the Road Goes On...
Hi, friends. So here's the update:
Jude is staying in the hospital, and we've been moved to another unit. (For those who are interested to know, we've been moved from 7A, the Infant Care Unit, to 7C, the Intermediate Care Unit / PICU stepdown unit.)
So, Jude's hernia repair operation has been tentatively scheduled for Monday afternoon; however, the attending surgeon who's in the hospital right now indicated that the surgery could be postponed if Jude fares well for the rest of the weekend and all of his lab tests and other indicators look good. (When surgery does finally happen, we've been told it's likely that Jude will have a hernia repair operation, an anti-reflux procedure called a Nissen fundoplication, and a g-tube placement.) Also, his gastric suction tube is currently removing the bloody contents that he was vomiting this morning and decompressing his stomach. For the rest of the weekend, the medical staff will be watching him pretty closely and doing blood tests on a more regular basis to monitor his status. Update: The attending surgeon, Dr. Smith, informed us at 8 pm that Jude's labs looked very good, which may portend delyaing surgery until later in the week.
So, you may be wondering why Jude was vomiting old blood in the first place. Unfortunately, we're not really sure why. There's speculation that having several tubes put down Jude's nose over the last day or two irritated his nose and/or stomach lining and made them bleed. That's certainly possible, I guess, but Rose and I are little unsure about it. We've seen trace amounts of blood in Jude's vomit before, which was also attributed to tubes irritating the nose and/or stomach; however, what came out of Jude this morning was far more than we had ever seen before, and about 75% of it was blood (including some larger clots) with the rest being mucous and secretions.
When talking to the attending surgeon, he seemed more concerned about the possibility that the Jude's stomach was at risk for ischemia, or an insufficient supply of blood. If Jude's stomach were to become pinched or squeezed in his hernia (i.e. between his chest wall and what remains of the patch that was used to close his hernia), then blood supply could be cut off to part of his stomach, which could be potentially disastrous and result in the death of some of his stomach tissue. But, while the surgeon was concerned about ischemia, it doesn't appear that has happened. *Whew*
As you can imagine, we still covet your prayers for Jude's healing and for the wisdom for his nurses and physicians. But we also ask for prayer for our family:
We are very tired. Our lives have been turned completely upside down over the last year, and we need an extra dose of God's grace to keep going. Rose and I hate to be apart from Annabelle, and we hate it that she feels our absence and is saddened over it. (Yes, kids are resilient. And yes, she probably won't remember the troubles of this last year when she's older. But no parents want to be separated from their child intermittently for 8-9 months in the midst of very stressful circumstances or see her affected by a barrage of changes.) I've just started taking classes at a community college in Florence, and I'm slotted to start a new job on Monday (i.e. the same day that Jude's surgery could happen), so I have to go back soon, leaving Rose by herself with Jude.
We're very stretched, and we need patience and endurance that only God can provide. We can try (and have tried, occasionally) to muster those things out of our meager resources as broken, sinful people, but our only real hope for peace is on our knees. We can try to reassure ourselves that "everything will work out" just like we want, but we know all too well that God's timing and purposes rarely accord with ours, and that He may very well ordain a future for our family that, on the front end, would seem like the opposite of what we desire.
God, please give us grateful hearts to praise you for your many mercies to us over the last year: The love, encouragement, and prayers of family, friends old and new, and brothers and sisters in Christ the world over; material blessings that helped us get by when our resources would have been utterly exhausted; physical, emotional, and spiritual endurance that did not originate in us; and, most of all, for the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection are the foundation of our life and hope. We know that you have wrought healing in Jude's body, you have brought amazing people into our lives, and you have provided for all of our needs, but too often we use those blessings as the means to forget you. Forgive us for putting our trust and hope in things other than you -- living in this place or that, having immediate fellowship with those particular people, having this or that job, having these plans work out. Disabuse us of these idols and the ones in our lives that we don't even recognize. Please give us our daily provision to subsist as we continue to go through this difficult period of life, which feels like walking through the wilderness. Help us to remember our spiritual, mental, and emotional poverty and how, despite our wanderings, you have still given us every good thing to continue through this long walk with Jude. Help us to remember who we truly are -- broken people who need your love -- and who you are -- a merciful God who loves to bless his children, even when they use his blessings as occasions to forget him or walk away.
Jude is staying in the hospital, and we've been moved to another unit. (For those who are interested to know, we've been moved from 7A, the Infant Care Unit, to 7C, the Intermediate Care Unit / PICU stepdown unit.)
So, Jude's hernia repair operation has been tentatively scheduled for Monday afternoon; however, the attending surgeon who's in the hospital right now indicated that the surgery could be postponed if Jude fares well for the rest of the weekend and all of his lab tests and other indicators look good. (When surgery does finally happen, we've been told it's likely that Jude will have a hernia repair operation, an anti-reflux procedure called a Nissen fundoplication, and a g-tube placement.) Also, his gastric suction tube is currently removing the bloody contents that he was vomiting this morning and decompressing his stomach. For the rest of the weekend, the medical staff will be watching him pretty closely and doing blood tests on a more regular basis to monitor his status. Update: The attending surgeon, Dr. Smith, informed us at 8 pm that Jude's labs looked very good, which may portend delyaing surgery until later in the week.
So, you may be wondering why Jude was vomiting old blood in the first place. Unfortunately, we're not really sure why. There's speculation that having several tubes put down Jude's nose over the last day or two irritated his nose and/or stomach lining and made them bleed. That's certainly possible, I guess, but Rose and I are little unsure about it. We've seen trace amounts of blood in Jude's vomit before, which was also attributed to tubes irritating the nose and/or stomach; however, what came out of Jude this morning was far more than we had ever seen before, and about 75% of it was blood (including some larger clots) with the rest being mucous and secretions.
When talking to the attending surgeon, he seemed more concerned about the possibility that the Jude's stomach was at risk for ischemia, or an insufficient supply of blood. If Jude's stomach were to become pinched or squeezed in his hernia (i.e. between his chest wall and what remains of the patch that was used to close his hernia), then blood supply could be cut off to part of his stomach, which could be potentially disastrous and result in the death of some of his stomach tissue. But, while the surgeon was concerned about ischemia, it doesn't appear that has happened. *Whew*
As you can imagine, we still covet your prayers for Jude's healing and for the wisdom for his nurses and physicians. But we also ask for prayer for our family:
We are very tired. Our lives have been turned completely upside down over the last year, and we need an extra dose of God's grace to keep going. Rose and I hate to be apart from Annabelle, and we hate it that she feels our absence and is saddened over it. (Yes, kids are resilient. And yes, she probably won't remember the troubles of this last year when she's older. But no parents want to be separated from their child intermittently for 8-9 months in the midst of very stressful circumstances or see her affected by a barrage of changes.) I've just started taking classes at a community college in Florence, and I'm slotted to start a new job on Monday (i.e. the same day that Jude's surgery could happen), so I have to go back soon, leaving Rose by herself with Jude.
We're very stretched, and we need patience and endurance that only God can provide. We can try (and have tried, occasionally) to muster those things out of our meager resources as broken, sinful people, but our only real hope for peace is on our knees. We can try to reassure ourselves that "everything will work out" just like we want, but we know all too well that God's timing and purposes rarely accord with ours, and that He may very well ordain a future for our family that, on the front end, would seem like the opposite of what we desire.
God, please give us grateful hearts to praise you for your many mercies to us over the last year: The love, encouragement, and prayers of family, friends old and new, and brothers and sisters in Christ the world over; material blessings that helped us get by when our resources would have been utterly exhausted; physical, emotional, and spiritual endurance that did not originate in us; and, most of all, for the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection are the foundation of our life and hope. We know that you have wrought healing in Jude's body, you have brought amazing people into our lives, and you have provided for all of our needs, but too often we use those blessings as the means to forget you. Forgive us for putting our trust and hope in things other than you -- living in this place or that, having immediate fellowship with those particular people, having this or that job, having these plans work out. Disabuse us of these idols and the ones in our lives that we don't even recognize. Please give us our daily provision to subsist as we continue to go through this difficult period of life, which feels like walking through the wilderness. Help us to remember our spiritual, mental, and emotional poverty and how, despite our wanderings, you have still given us every good thing to continue through this long walk with Jude. Help us to remember who we truly are -- broken people who need your love -- and who you are -- a merciful God who loves to bless his children, even when they use his blessings as occasions to forget him or walk away.
A New Problem, Another Day in the Hospital
Folks,
If you would, please pray for Jude today.
This morning, he started vomiting, even though he's not being fed in his tummy. At first, we thought that the feeding tube in his nose, which is used to administer a medication that can only be given orally, might have been stimulating his gag reflex and causing him to throw up. Unfortunately, the vomiting didn't stop, and then blood starting coming up. The blood was apparently old as it was a dark brown color instead of the bright red color of fresh blood. We called Jude's nurse and the docs, and they resolved to watch him and keep him until tomorrow.
An hour or two later, he started vomiting again, and he wasn't able to stop for nearly an hour. Everything that came up was bloody. An x-ray was done, and we can see that Jude's stomach or part of his bowel (we're not totally sure yet) is distended to about 3 times the size it was yesterday. The plan for now, per the attending surgeon who's been following Jude this past week, is to put another gastric suction tube down his nose and decompress his stomach/GI tract. (He's actually being taken down to radiology to have the tube placed as I'm writing this.)
If you would, please pray that the causes of the bleeding and the persistent vomiting are identified so they can be stopped. Dr. Smith, the surgeon who's in the hospital today, said that if the distention in Jude's stomach and/or bowel can't be rectified by decompression with a tube, then he may have to operate. Pray with us that God would move in a miraculous way today and bring relief and healing to our little boy.
If you would, please pray for Jude today.
This morning, he started vomiting, even though he's not being fed in his tummy. At first, we thought that the feeding tube in his nose, which is used to administer a medication that can only be given orally, might have been stimulating his gag reflex and causing him to throw up. Unfortunately, the vomiting didn't stop, and then blood starting coming up. The blood was apparently old as it was a dark brown color instead of the bright red color of fresh blood. We called Jude's nurse and the docs, and they resolved to watch him and keep him until tomorrow.
An hour or two later, he started vomiting again, and he wasn't able to stop for nearly an hour. Everything that came up was bloody. An x-ray was done, and we can see that Jude's stomach or part of his bowel (we're not totally sure yet) is distended to about 3 times the size it was yesterday. The plan for now, per the attending surgeon who's been following Jude this past week, is to put another gastric suction tube down his nose and decompress his stomach/GI tract. (He's actually being taken down to radiology to have the tube placed as I'm writing this.)
If you would, please pray that the causes of the bleeding and the persistent vomiting are identified so they can be stopped. Dr. Smith, the surgeon who's in the hospital today, said that if the distention in Jude's stomach and/or bowel can't be rectified by decompression with a tube, then he may have to operate. Pray with us that God would move in a miraculous way today and bring relief and healing to our little boy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)