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G-tubes...the Good, the Bad, and the Refluxey

The Good:

We went for a swallow evaluation (different than a swallow study) and Abby has been officially cleared to get some tastes by mouth!!  We have to go slowly and she can only have 1/4 a teaspoon 3-4 times a day, but it's something!  She LOVED the food and was really excited to get a taste.  I'm sure I'll be posting some feeding pictures soon!  We'll be going back for frequent follow-ups so that she can increase the amount of food and continue to monitor her eating.

The Bad:

I changed Abby's g-tube on Wednesday.  Normally, it is very easy to take out.  You just take the water out of the balloon (that's how it stays in place) and pull it out.  Abby's was very, very difficult to remove and it was obviously very painful for her.  I did it slowly and gently, but I could tell it hurt.  Poor girl!  The site was also pretty goopy and nasty.  I called the pediatrician after that but he just said to keep an eye on it.

The Refluxey:

On Sunday, Abby started having some reflux, which she NEVER has.  She's been on Zantac since she got her g-tube, but has long-since outgrown the dose and has never had any problems.  Her g-tube site was still very painful and she cried if we even went near it.  It was also rather red, so I made another call to the pediatrician (I wonder if they groan when they hear it's me?)  This time, he said that all of those factors indicated a trip to the ER.  The nurse and I packed everything up--including Caleb, as we were just on our way to church when this happened--and headed to CMH.  After lots of waiting and explaining everything 15 times, several doctors examined her and didn't really know what to do.  They attempted to start an IV, which didn't work, and then tried to draw blood, which clotted...I stopped them from poking her anymore after that.  One called JHH GI and spoke to a fellow, who basically said not to do anything but that they wanted to see her as soon as possible. 

Since we were already heading up there today, I thought it would be just perfect for us to be seen today!

They didn't see it that way.  Darn.

Now, I'm still not exactly sure when we'll be seen, but worst case scenario is that we keep our already scheduled appointment for next Thursday.  Oh well...she's eating and hasn't had any more instances of reflux. 

You'll have to excuse me...I need to go feed my girl some solid foods!!!!  ;)

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