Lexis Surgery #6, Our first real speed bump. Heres what everyone expected- A clean out, to find everything closed and stronger than last time. Planned to close her tummy, at least mostly, and to begin reintroducing eating through her mouth within the next couple weeks. Heres how it went The 5 leaks (3 popped and 2 pinholes in surgical seams) that had been fixed in prior surgeries, had torn back open instead of healing. They then leaked stool and bacteria out into her abdominal cavity. They have now been loosely re-closed. Everything is still alive, but all tissue is very fragile due to her belly having been open so long. Her liver is also being heavily taxed by her necessity to receive all of her nutrition intravenously. It has been further weakened by all of this extra contamination from the leaks. To help and promote her intestines healing the rest of the way, they have been ended 3 inches below her stomach and now exit, through a tube, through the original surgical incision. This will allow her intestions to heal without having to work, and be irritated by stool and bile. But she will not be able to begin eating until they are reattached, which is planned for about 2 months from now, which is not good for her liver. Her stomach was then closed around this new tube which will allow for better healing, and reduce infection risks. Her original stoma is now no longer needed for her bowels to exit (because theyre unhooked) so two tubes have been put thru the site for abdominal drainage, in leu of the wound vac which had drained through her now closed insision. She is now in an isolation room, to protect her from infection etc, because an antibacterial resistant bug was released into her thru her leaks. She may have to get some major antibacterial treatment to knock it out, leaving her even more susceptable to infection for a time. Thank God one of their few nicu isolation rooms happened to be available, right when she needed it. Back to her liver, now that shes definitely going to be unable to eat for a minimal of two to three months, the nutrition they use here may be more than her liver can handle, due to its weakened state. They are going to give it a few days to see if this most recent washout has relieved it enough to partially rebound. In the mean time they are looking into an alternative formula using omega 3 (good for liver, used in Europe) instead of omega 6 (bad for liver, used in USA). If she ends up needing omega 3, the doctors are doubt full that Danville will allow it, so if not she will be transferred to a bigger childrens hospital, that uses omega 3, until done with the intravenous feeding. So some less good than expected news, but still lots of alternative routes to take. Praise the Lord that Lexi was blessed with a surgeon who is knowedgable and able to move right to a plan b, without missing a beat. That she has a doctor that knows of outside the norm solutions, and has been at facilities that are not to pride full to recognize when a neccesary treatment may be outside of their capabilities, and so are willing to locate a more appropriate hospital when and if needed. Why is Lexi seeming to need treatment so outside of the normal and available? I was told that most babies that come in with a twist in their intestines, usually have that twist in the middle, so a large portion of intestine is almost entirely unaffected. Those few that have the twist right at the top (like Lexi)? They generally just loose their entire intestine immediately, and either go for a transplant, or dont even make it that far. Her intestine having received the trauma that it did, and then surviving is apparently unbelievably far outside the normal spectrum of what they ever see, and so dealing with the special process it requires isnt something they are typically faced with. In other words, a MIRACLE, and so theyre not used to dealing with it. Lexis vitals are staying strong, her swelling is still down, and the Coo Coo Birds still flapping! Her next surgery will be in two months, for reconnection, unless another washout or repair becomes necessary before then. Please keep those prayer coming her way!!!
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 02:54:47 +0000
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