Tough Stuff

Nolan has had a rough afternoon. At first, the fentanyl from surgery kept the pain at bay.

He was very upset. He can't have anything to eat or drink. Nothing. No ice chips, no water, no wet rag. Anything that hits his stomach could cause retching in a very sensitive tummy. For kids with fundoplications, it isn't unusual o go 48 hours without water.

His tummy looks pretty decent for the surgery he went through. He is in a considerable amount of pain. He got more IV morphine about a half hour ago, but he still can't sleep.

Surgery Done

They were able to do the fundoplication laprascopically. Moving to the PICU.

Taken to the OR

They took Nolan back to the operating room at about 9:30am. He went off without any tears - such a brave boy!

At the RMH in Rochester

I'm typing this on a tablet, so forgive any formatting errors! 

We made it up to Rochester pretty quickly. I am so grateful for the Ronald McDonald House. Now we're trying to settle Nolan down. Hopefully he'll go to sleep soon!

Surgery Time

I just called the hospital and Nolan's surgery is scheduled for 9:15am tomorrow morning - we'll check into the hospital at 7:45am.

Getting Ready to Go

Saturday Night: Too Much Excitement

We had a crazy weekend. I went to a training session for parent members of the special education committee (a volunteer position) and then came home just in time to run off to the ice arena. Matthew played his final hockey game of the Timbit season, had an award ceremony, then we went out for pizza. As it turns out, this was the second meal of pizza he had had that day (hint: foreshadowing).

We returned to the rink for the Ironman game, and the boys were having a lot of fun in the arena with noisemakers, shouting, yelling, and lots of other excitement. They also had more junk food and slushies. We didn't get home until 9:45pm, which is wayyyy after my boys' typical bedtime.

At 4:15am, Matt tapped me on the shoulder and declared, "Something happened in my bed."

Oh, for the love of vomit.

He tossed his cookies a few more times that night, and I had a panic attack about Nolan's surgery. If Nolan got the stomach flu during a fundoplication recovery, things would be bad. Very, very bad.

By morning, Matt seemed fine and he was eating food like normal. No fever, no other sign of illness. I started to relax and chalk up the middle of the night upchuck marathon to over-excitement and junk food. Of course, I spent the weekend in a state of terror, monitoring Nolan for signs of anything tummy-related.

A few days later, everyone is fine. We headed up to the ENT yesterday for a routine appointment. It went well,  and we determined that Nolan's "wet cough" did not really involve his lungs. If he had any problems with his lungs, the surgery would be off. Fortunately, all is well and it is just in his throat. He did have to have wax cleaned out again, which meant the papoose board and a lot of upset from Nolan.

After the ENT, we picked up Grandma from the airport and headed home. Today is the day before surgery, and everyone is right as rain. Matt went to school, Nolan seems happy and fine, and I have to call the surgeon to see what time surgery is tomorrow (and then call the Ronald McDonald House to check in).

I'll try to give brief updates from the hospital when we're there.

Hanging Out at Home

Wednesday was Nolan's last day of school. Yesterday he had a speech therapy session at home and a visit from his Teacher of the Deaf, but otherwise he hung out in his pajamas and watched cartoons. He has also been helping me bake a few things, which he loves.

My attempt at keeping him entirely well before surgery has failed - he woke up yesterday with a nasty wet cough. Fortunately he seems well in every other way - hard to tell if he has a virus or he just aspirated reflux, causing a small lung infection. He does that occasionally, and he's been particularly refluxy lately. Lots of hiccups, coughs, and choking when he drinks.

If the weather holds this morning, I am going to take him outside for some fresh air, because I think it would do him some good. We don't have many plans for today, which is a relief. The weekend is going to be very, very busy - Matthew has a piano lesson and his final hockey game of the season tomorrow, followed by an award ceremony. He loves hockey, he really does, but I have to say I am glad for the end of the hockey season with everything else going on this month!

Matt is the skater out in front.

Nolan has an ENT appointment on Monday - I would have canceled it, but we are going up to the airport to pick up Dennis's mom, anyway. Besides, if we go to the ENT now, we won't have to return for three more months - which means I won't have to drive Nolan to Buffalo among the many trips to Rochester for GI follow ups.

We have started talking about going to Rochester and staying at the hospital with Nolan. He still doesn't know any specifics, but he is quite aware that something is going on with Grandma coming and his staying home from school. I simply told him that we are going to the hospital and the doctor will fix his reflux. He's not very happy about going to the hospital - he has a lot of experience with hospitals since this will be his eleventh procedure/surgery under general anesthesia. We're not telling him about the g-tube until closer to the actual event, since it would only upset him and the surgery is still 5 days away.