Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Update on Mary

Well, I know many of you have been waiting for an update on Mary and our progress in the hospital today. To be honest, we didn't make much. First, Mary is doing very well and is in high spirits. She spent most of the day seeing therapists that Kate has lined up for her. She saw a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist, mostly just to pass the time and make the day in the hospital go by a little faster.
We knew at the beginning of the day that we couldn't do the procedure she needed, because she still had barium in her system from the upper GI scan from yesterday. So, finally tomorrow at 8:00 am, she will be getting her 'Milk scan' done in nuclear medicine. This is a more accurate way to determine if Mary is aspirating food from her stomach up into her airway. The surgeons want to know if she is or isn't [aspirating] to justify putting a Nissen fundoplication in prevent it. (We want the Nissen regardless.)
Anyway, after that test, hopefully we will go forward with surgery. We are looking at either late Friday or Monday for that. The surgery will most likely be done endoscopically (through two small holes in her tummy with a camera in one of them), so that is good for Mary and they will put in a G-tube (gastrostomy-tube) and a Nissen if they determine it is necessary. We know the G-tube is necessary for Mary to eat, since she can no longer take foods by mouth.

Ok, I know that is a lot of medical terms for those of you reading this who are not familiar with the disease, but I just wanted to give you all a good idea of what lies ahead in the next few days. We know will be here in the hospital as least through the weekend, if not into next week, depending on when the surgery occurs and how well the recovery goes.
Please as always keep Mary in your prayers!

3 comments:

Jan said...

You are all in our constant thoughts and prayers. God bless you and keep you strong. Thanks for the update and we will continue to pray that all goes well with the surgery and for a speedy recovery.

Grandma Julie said...

Test

Grandma Julie said...

Thanks for the updates. Praying that God will be in every thought and action concerning Mary in the next days. Happy that she is able to rest comfortably. God bless all of you. Grandma and Grandpa