G-tube & Discharge

Hello Friends,

Pre-op 7am waiting, waiting, waiting.....

Rachel and I brought Steele into OHSU on Tuesday (6/26) around 7am for surgery admit. After all the measurements and discussions with Anesthesia, Surgery Plan, and Recovery, Steele was off to the OR at 11am. He was given a sedative of Ketamine through his nose and 5 minutes later, he was whisked away through those double doors. It is still not easy to let your baby go, no matter how many time we have done this routine. Rachel and I took a walk and ate some food, which made us both feel more at ease. We sat outside and tried to relax waiting for the pager to buzz a message. Around 130 pm, we got a message to return to the waiting room to talk to the surgeon.

The surgeon came out and was very happy with how the procedure had gone. Steele had no issues with the anesthesia this time, but he had a small hernia in his lower right side of his groin. Nothing to worry about, but to just be aware of. There was also a small hole in his diaphragm that may cause him some discomfort when eating solid foods, but again, just watch for pain and vomiting. The area around the incision for the tube is also a big concern with infection and tugging. He will not be able to be submersed in water for about 2 weeks until the stitches dissolve and the incision has had time to heal around the tube. Apologies for the poor quality photo, Steele is getting very good with his hands.

All medications and nutrition will go through this "gas hose" from now on. His belly is still swollen from the surgery. He was so happy this morning not to have a tube in his nose!

Once he came out of anesthesia, we were there to greet him and hang out for about an hour before moving into the PICU for the evening. As soon as we all arrived in the PICU, a stream of greetings began to flow into our room from all our past doctors, surgeons, and nursing staff. It was really cool to see everyone again. The PICU is a pretty depressing place, but very familiar for Rachel and I, so good to be in a place that is not shocking at this point in the game. We got settled in and had some dinner in the room and I took off for the evening while Rachel stayed overnight.

I got a text from Rachel indicating that they were moving him to the "floor" around midnight. Good news! In the morning I headed over to his new room and help Rachel clock out and time for me to clock in. I worked with the cardiology team and nursing team to meet all of his feeding goals for the evening and plan discharge. I moved as quickly as possible to get the discharge orders written up, signed and rolling out of the unit at approximately 8:30pm. Best discharge to date, smooth quick and home by 9pm.

Steele slept all night long doing just fine with his new gas hose. You could tell in the morning that he was super stoked to not have the tube down his nose. It's amazing how plastic our minds are to realize the slight changes that are so monumental for our personal happiness. Steele.

We are are home now trying to manage the gas tube, yest that it what I cam officially calling it. Everything is going fine thus far, the biggest concern and infection and tug on his new toy.

Talk soon friends.