Overdue Surgery Update

It it hard to believe a week ago right now we were in the hospital for Callie's surgery.  Things have been very busy over the last couple of weeks and the time as quickly slipped away.  Leading up to the surgery were some extremely hectic days.  The week prior Callie had 8 appointments and the two days prior she had 6 more!  

Things started going downhill the weekend before her surgery.  That Friday night she screamed in pain when her midnight feed started and she was inconsolable.  Then she proceeded to wake up periodically through the night crying.  Her g-tube button site seemed to really be bothering her.  Her nurse and I tried to make her as comfortable as possible, but she pretty much dealt with this all weekend.  The site seemed tender, but there was no redness or fever or any sign of infection.  I took her to the pediatrician on Monday, but they also were not sure of the issue.  I was able to go back to Fairfax on Tuesday morning to see a GI nurse at the tube clinic.  They were also stumped with no infection signs, but gave me a prescription for a steroid cream to put on her granulation tissue and instructed me to get a specific type of barrier cream to put on her tummy around the site to protect the good skin around the tissue.  I started using the creams that night and the site was 100% better within 24 hours!  So that issue was solved, but then another developed.  Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at 3AM in the middle of her feed she sat up and projectile vomited.  It happened again during her first feed of the day.  I called the pediatrician and they said to switch her to Pedialyte.  She tolerated a Pedialyte feed and a 50/50 Pedialyte/Elecare mix that afternoon, but then vomited again that night.  I really did not know if we were going to be able to go through with the procedure the next morning.  We ended up going to the hospital as planned and during the interview with her anesthesia team it was decided that the surgery would be performed as scheduled.

Callie had ear tubes put in and her tonsils & adenoids removed.  The surgery itself went smoothly and Dr. Silva said she was 90% (!) blocked by her adenoids and her tonsils were huge.  So she should find some relief after healing.  It was difficult for her to wake up from the anesthesia, but she eventually became more alert.  She was not a happy camper for the rest of the day.  I think that was the first day for as long as I can remember that she did not smile the entire day.  :-(  Callie was admitted to the hospital for observation for 23 hours following the surgery and we were released by about noon the following day.  She was a little more herself the second day and then continued to improve until she was able to go without any pain medication a few days later.  We will go back to see Dr. Silva in about 5 weeks for a checkup and hearing test.  I am anxious for the results.

Currently we are experiencing another issue.  Callie started vomiting again this past Sunday night.  We had to give her Pedialyte only again for 3 days until she was finally able to handle a 50/50 mix with Elecare last night, although at a very slow pump rate.  We are not sure what is causing these vomiting incidents and hoping it is just a bug that will soon pass.  Today she handled a mix of Elecare & Pedialyte at a slow rate.  I am working on slowly introducing more and more formula, and then once she can handle 100% Elecare again I will work on increasing the pump speed.  It will probably take us a week to get back to our normal feeding schedule, but we will get there.

We are currently praying for no more issues!  Fortunately they have not been major, but I feel like there has been one thing after another lately.  In addition to Callie's issues, Owen came down with an impetigo rash and then I got strep last week.  We could use a break.  But again, these issues are thankfully minor and I am optimistic we will all be healthy again soon!  

Here are a few pictures from the hospital.  Lately she enjoys watching Baby Einstein and Baby Signing Time on her iPad and this helped keep her entertained while recovering:  

This picture is from the day of her surgery when she would not crack a smile.  Wow, she looks really grown up in this one, don't you think?

This one was taken right before we were released.  They put a big Vecta sensory bubble tower in our room to try to cheer her up and she finally started enjoying it right before we left.