Another stable night for Wyatt. He is still very lethargic and unresponsive, due to the fact he is receiving pain medications about every 4 hours. Today they will begin to wean the pain medications to about every 6-8 hours, or so. He has been able to have his respirator settings greatly reduced, so he is doing some breathing on his own now, but still has the respirator in place. Hopefully within a couple days, he will able to have the vent tube removed. Wyatt is already having good stools out his new ileostemy, which is a good thing, because it means his small intestine is working. He should be fitted for his ileostomy bag, today.
It sounds like Brody is having a good time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. He was very excited to get to play with all the toys in Grandma’s toy-room. And, I’m sure he is having fun playing with all the other kids.
Below is a picture of Wyatt. I know it is a little hard to look at, but for now, this is his reality. If he was at home, we would have hundreds of pictures posted of him, by now.
10/13/09--Tuesday
Wyatt remained stable thru the night, after his surgery. The nurses kept him on pain medications throughout the night, to keep him comfortable and allow his intestine to heal. Due to the surgery, Wyatt has something called an “ileostomy” which is a surgically created opening in the small intestine. The intestine is brought thru the abdominal wall, in the form of a “stoma”. The “stoma” looks like a very small, red rubber ring on top of his belly. He will eventually be fitted with a bag for his ileostomy; very similar to a colostomy bag.
Brody left with Grandma Rella and Grandpa Larry, today, to drive to Huron. He will stay with Grandma and Grandpa, probably thru the weekend, so Erik and I can figure out what our new life involves and be at the hospital for Wyatt. Brody has been great thru this entire experience. He understands that Wyatt is sick and has to stay in the hospital and that mommy and daddy need to be here for Wyatt right now. Please, if you call us or our parents to check up on Wyatt, also ask about Brody, so he doesn’t feel left out and as if the entire focus of everyone’s world is on Wyatt.
10/12/09--Monday
I had just finished taking Brody to evening preschool at ECFE, when I received a phone call from Wyatt’s doctor, telling me that his intestine had ruptured and he would need immediate surgery. Luckily, my parents were at our house and able to take over the care of Brody. Erik and I rushed over to the hospital to see our very sick little boy. We called the hospital chaplain and had Wyatt baptized at around 9:00pm. By 9:20pm, he was in surgery. There, he had his appendix removed, received a surgically placed IV which comes out the middle of his chest, and had his intestine repaired. The doctor only removed a small section of small-intestine and a larger section of large-intestine. The doctor was very pleased about this, because apparently, the small intestine is where all the nutrient absorption is done. When Wyatt got out of surgery at about midnight, Erik thought he immediately looked better, because he wasn’t quite so grey.
10/11/09--Sunday
At Children's Hospital a breathing tube was placed, the contents of his stomach were suctioned out, he got a new IV, and began receiving three different antibiotics to fight the infection. An X-ray of Wyatt’s belly is taken about every 4-5 hours to check the site of the intestinal infection and make sure it hasn’t spread or ruptured. So, for now, he seems to be stable (the infection is not getting smaller, but it is not getting larger, either). He receives a small dose of morphine, if he seems to be in pain, so, for the most part, he just sleeps.
10/10/09--Saturday
On Saturday morning Brody, Erik and I headed out to the Eden Prairie Fire Department open house, to do something as a family, away from the hospital, for the first time since Wyatt’s birth one week prior. Erik and I almost froze in the 36 degree weather, but, not Brody. He just couldn’t get enough of being outside and seeing all the fire-trucks, police dogs, helicopters, fire demonstrations, etc.
Wyatt remained stable thru the night, after his surgery. The nurses kept him on pain medications throughout the night, to keep him comfortable and allow his intestine to heal. Due to the surgery, Wyatt has something called an “ileostomy” which is a surgically created opening in the small intestine. The intestine is brought thru the abdominal wall, in the form of a “stoma”. The “stoma” looks like a very small, red rubber ring on top of his belly. He will eventually be fitted with a bag for his ileostomy; very similar to a colostomy bag.
Brody left with Grandma Rella and Grandpa Larry, today, to drive to Huron. He will stay with Grandma and Grandpa, probably thru the weekend, so Erik and I can figure out what our new life involves and be at the hospital for Wyatt. Brody has been great thru this entire experience. He understands that Wyatt is sick and has to stay in the hospital and that mommy and daddy need to be here for Wyatt right now. Please, if you call us or our parents to check up on Wyatt, also ask about Brody, so he doesn’t feel left out and as if the entire focus of everyone’s world is on Wyatt.
10/12/09--Monday
I had just finished taking Brody to evening preschool at ECFE, when I received a phone call from Wyatt’s doctor, telling me that his intestine had ruptured and he would need immediate surgery. Luckily, my parents were at our house and able to take over the care of Brody. Erik and I rushed over to the hospital to see our very sick little boy. We called the hospital chaplain and had Wyatt baptized at around 9:00pm. By 9:20pm, he was in surgery. There, he had his appendix removed, received a surgically placed IV which comes out the middle of his chest, and had his intestine repaired. The doctor only removed a small section of small-intestine and a larger section of large-intestine. The doctor was very pleased about this, because apparently, the small intestine is where all the nutrient absorption is done. When Wyatt got out of surgery at about midnight, Erik thought he immediately looked better, because he wasn’t quite so grey.
10/11/09--Sunday
At Children's Hospital a breathing tube was placed, the contents of his stomach were suctioned out, he got a new IV, and began receiving three different antibiotics to fight the infection. An X-ray of Wyatt’s belly is taken about every 4-5 hours to check the site of the intestinal infection and make sure it hasn’t spread or ruptured. So, for now, he seems to be stable (the infection is not getting smaller, but it is not getting larger, either). He receives a small dose of morphine, if he seems to be in pain, so, for the most part, he just sleeps.
10/10/09--Saturday
On Saturday morning Brody, Erik and I headed out to the Eden Prairie Fire Department open house, to do something as a family, away from the hospital, for the first time since Wyatt’s birth one week prior. Erik and I almost froze in the 36 degree weather, but, not Brody. He just couldn’t get enough of being outside and seeing all the fire-trucks, police dogs, helicopters, fire demonstrations, etc.
Soon after we got home and got Brody down for his nap, we received a phone call from the hospital, telling us that Wyatt had developed something called NEC (Necrotizing Entercolitis). NEC is an infection of the intestine, where bacteria tries to damage the intestinal tissues, and can lead to a ruptured intestine. Due to the infection, Wyatt stopped t stopped breathing several times, so on Saturday night, he was transferred, via ambulance, from Methodist Hospital over to Children’s Hospital. What a whirl-wind of a day. We went from thinking Wyatt was on the road to recovery on Saturday morning (he had his IV removed, he was removed from the jaundice lights, etc.) to a point where he could no longer breath on his own.
No comments:
Post a Comment