Wed. 5/14 - update

Well....we had another full day. It started last night after Caed went to bed. He slept maybe 3-4 hrs. and then began waking up every hour in pain. Finally, around 2:30 am, when I went to him I felt he was burning up with fever. His temp was 103! Then, we noticed his G-tube draining was a green color!! (hasn't drained bile in a long time) So, with those 3 factors: pain, fever, and green drainage, we decided to take him to the ER. They took some blood cultures first off and found that his white and red blood cell counts were normal. Praise God!! Our guess is that there is an infection in his broviac (catheter) again. Those cultures take 24 hrs., so we don't have those results yet. If so, it can be treated with antibiotics again. We also think we uncovered the mystery of the green drainage. While still in the ER, we drained his tube and it came out clear/yellowish (normal). Then, it dawned on me that Caed had taken a few sips of blue PowerAde before we went to bed last night. You know the commercial...yellow and blue make GREEN!! (we have officially learned our lesson - no more blue drinks, snowcones, jello, etc...) Again, we praise God!! The final question was the pain. They decided to admit us back into the hospital so we could have some testing done. (& also wait on the blood culture) We are now on 2nd floor, but we got the big room again! It sure does look different when it's empty! Our GI dr. came in this morning and told us NOT to bring any of our stuff back up here! (meaning...they didn't want to see us having to "live" here again) Caed slept from 6am - noon. He was exhausted! Todd and I got a little sleep as well (45 minutes or so). They came and got us around 12:30 to head for radiology. Caed did pretty good. He still got scared, but we tried to reassure him they just wanted some pictures of his tummy. Instead of him having to drink the barium, they just inserted it into his G-tube. (MUCH better!!) We stayed down there for a series of x-rays for a little over an hour. Dr. G came rushing into our room later this afternoon and was SO excited. She said it moved through his system in the same amount of time it takes a "normal" person. When we have had this done before, they usually bring us back up to the room and then bring a portable x-ray machine all throughout the day and even night. What has taken 12+ hrs. before, took only 1 hr. today! Praise God!! She said she kept thinking she was looking at someone else's x-ray. There is however a small portion of the sm. intestine (duodenum) that looks very irritated. She thinks that might be the cause of some of his pain as well. She will get with our GI drs. and discuss the treatment plan. Also, she said she feels very strongly that he has reflux. (again though something treatable with medicine) She's still concerned with the vomiting, but was VERY encouraged by today's testing. Hopefully it has shed some light on what needs to happen next. His stomach is still sick, but she said it is dumping. (something we weren't so sure of before) He hasn't had a BM now in 5 days! They will give him a heavy duty suppository in the morning. (it has always worked before) They also saw lots of gas throughout the intestine, so maybe that will be helped also by the suppository. We are still a long way from a full recovery, but we took some MAJOR steps forward today. In Lubbock this afternoon it was very stormy. That's how we felt this whole day. (frustrated, scared, sad....) Then, all of a sudden the clouds moved back and the sun shone SO brightly! Again, a reflection of our day after the dr. came to talk with us. Praise God!! The plan as of now is to spend the night here, and hopefully get some answers in the morning about the infection and also a BM! Then, we expect them to let us go back home. She said we could administer the antibiotics there.

Nancy, I think you prayed in your comment today about God sending us a messenger of encouragement. Well, He did!! Over the 66 days we spent here, we thought we had every nurse possible. Nope! God saved one very special one for today! She began sharing with us about her son having 9 surgeries starting at age 4 and everything he went through. She began preaching a sermon...it was incredible. Such strong encouraging words! She reaffirmed for us that God has a very special calling on Caed's life and we better "get ready!" She told us things that I have heard over and over throughout this whole ordeal, but hearing it today was like God telling it to us for the first time! I cried and thanked her...and then we were off to radiology, not knowing what they would find. Later, after we were back in our room, she came in, grabbed my hand and began praying over Caed. It was JUST what we needed today and we thank God for saving her for just the exact moment we needed it. One thing she reminded us of, and I kept humming the song to Caed down in radiology: "His eye is on the sparrow, so I know He watches me!!!" What started out as such a scary night/day, has now ended in one of PRAISE!!!! Oh Lord, YOU are Faithful!