Gastrostomy Tube and other Updates
Hello to all of our dear friends and family,
Today seemed like a good day to bring you an update. We had a semi-crisis when my gastrostomy tube dislodged and fell out of my stomach during the night. With a direct opening from the skin into the stomach we were concerned about the risk for infection. Additionally, the doctors had said if it came out completely and I couldn’t slide the tube back down the tract, we should go to the ER. The problem is that the tract begins closing internally within hours. So, 4am saw us departing for the hospital. We were quickly triaged and put in a room. The doctor said the procedure was too complicated for the ER and that it needed to be done by the Intervention Radiologist Team. The procedure was scheduled for 11am. Oh my goodness! Because of the “rush” to preserve the tract, it was decided to get immediately underway without the use of sleep or pain meds. In all honesty, it was excruciatingly painful as parts of the tract had already made a soft closure and the doctor had to push through them to open the way. Examination of the old tube showed that the internal balloon that holds the tube in place had burst. Ugh! After 30 minutes of pushing, pulling, sweating, and biting my tongue, we were finally done with the procedure. The doctor at one point when the pain was so bad suggested we let the current tract close naturally over a few weeks and then re-do the complete new surgery as if it was the first time. He saw the tears well up in my eyes with the thought of starting from scratch again. He said he would try one more time and that now would be a good time to pray. The tube, with a firm push, popped through the closed part of the tract and the x-ray machine showed it was in the proper place. More tears from me - tears of thankfulness. [...]
