Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

Eli heads back to the hospital today for another round of testing. He will be admitted today at lunch and discharged tomorrow about dinnertime. Due to his upper GI that showed no evidence of his Nissen being intact, increasing symptoms of refluxing at night again since late summer (i.e. coughing and restlessness), and worsening respiratory status, they are doing a 24 hour impedance study. This will consist of putting a special NG tube down Eli's nose that has two sensors on it to measure the levels of acidity in his stomach and esophagus. A computer with analyze these levels and the symptoms associated with them and help his GI doctor determine if Eli will be going under the knife again for Nissen Fundoplication round #2. We are hoping to avoid another fundo since Eli did so poorly after the first surgery. It is a large incision (~ 6 inches) and due to Eli's multiple abdominal surgeries and the wire mesh he has embedded in his abdominal wall, it will be complicated and a long time under anesthesia. If it is the only thing left to save his lungs from aspirating his reflux again though, we will go ahead with the surgery. He is maxed out on his respiratory meds and has been on oral or IV steroids almost constantly since August.

They will also be doing a sleep study tonight with Eli. This involves many tests all rolled into one. First they will glue EEG leads all over Eli's head and neck to monitor for seizure activity while he sleeps. Then he will wear ECG leads on his chest and tummy to monitor his heart function and see if he is having any brady episodes like he was during his hospitalization in August. They will put a CO detector on his nose and sat probe on his foot to monitor his respiratory status while he is sleeping. They are looking to see if he needs oxygen at home during the nighttime and to see if he desats during the night. The doctors will also watch his sleep patterns to see if he is following the correct flow of sleep and not having restless or interrupted sleep patterns for any particular reasons. It should provide us with lots of (mainly) benign information.

Al and I will get to stay with him until he goes to the sleep lab and then only one of us is allowed to spend the night due to space purposes. Al is going to head home and have a special boys night with Carson and I will stay at the hospital with the E-man. I hope it is a quick night because Carson's sleep study last spring with not a restful evening! I have worked 68 hours in the past 8 days and am TIRED. Our NICU has been hopping but I don't have to work until Saturday so it will give me some night TLC time with the boys (and my big boy too!). Wish us luck with Eli's testing and I'll try to update tomorrow with the results if I'm not too exhausted.

4 comments:

Amanda said...

They are both getting so big! Where does time go? I will be praying all goes well! Keep us updated!

Hughes Family said...

We'll be at Children's Thursday and Friday for Mitchell's bone graft. Maybe we can catch each other.

Kelly

baby james said...

Yes lots of good luck. It sounds like alot of great test to rule out lots of things and to give peace of mind if anything. I hope he does not have to have the nissen redone, but if so I pray for a uncomplicated recovery. Thankfully you have the back round but it is still so hard when it is our own. I will be thinking of you and anxiously awaiting your update. Hang in there Eli. Tracy and James

tiffany said...

I hope and pray Eli doesn't have to have the Nissen done again. Big hugs to you guys. Eli is such a brave young boy! And a cutie too.