March 10, 2001

Daniel's operation

Posted by Scott at 09:20 AM
I'm sitting in the waiting room outside the operating room at the local hospital. Daniel is having some minor surgery for a condition known as pyloric stenosis (don't quote me on that spelling). It basically means that the muscles controlling the passage between his stomach and small intestine are over developed and making the passage too narrow. Five years ago his cousin had something very similar to this. So the operation involves careful incisions to the area to help reduce that muscle back to normal size so that food can flow correctly. I was with him here at the hospital yesterday but they couldn't coordinate between the surgeon and the operating room. So he stayed over night with a promise to bring him in first thing in the morning. He'll have to stay here again tonight while they watch his recovery. Between the snow storm and this, it's been quite an unusual week!
As you might imagine, this has Michelle feeling a bit helpless but I've managed to keep her from being too concerned. She'll feel much better when he's back home with his brother, nursing without throwing up what he just ate.
This all started several days ago, about the time of the snow storm. Michelle would nurse him and occasionally he would have significant spit up. This is unusual for the boys as usually they just burp like you and I. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I got a call at work that Michelle was taking him to the doctor because he was spitting up so hard it was coming up through his nose. The doctor scheduled him for an x-ray to watch him as he drank a barium solution. Thursday I took him to this visit and the tests were interesting to watch, but unfortunately inconclusive. So Friday I brought him back for an ultrasound. They couldn't do an ultrasound the same day as the x-ray because the barium solution interferes with the ultrasound imagery. The ultrasound affirmed that he was at the early stages of pyloric stenosis. At the doctor's recommendation, I checked him into the hospital's in-patient pediatric unit right away. I waited with him most of the day, unable to feed him in case an opening in the emergency room should occur. At three o'clock Michelle came and the doctor confirmed a reservation for the following morning. (i.e. today) At least this allowed Daniel permission to eat for a while. He was happy to see Michelle and nurse for while. I drove home to pick up some reserve supplies of frozen breastmilk to get him through the night until his next fast would have to occur. Around six o'clock Michelle and I drove home to take care of the other three children. Michelle found it surprisingly quiet to have to only deal with one infant! We went to bed early. Entertaining a hungry baby all day took a beating on me. Besides, I knew a snow storm was hitting Nashua and I might have needed to get up early to clear the driveway before I could head to the hospital for his surgery.
This brings me back to the present. There was significant snowfall last night, but not so much that I couldn't get out. When I arrived, Daniel was not happy about having to fast again. This time he was all instrumented up and prepared for surgery. I stayed with him and calmed him until he went into the operating room. Now I just wait for the surgery to complete...
Comments