Finally a day that goes better than planned
Other than going into the OR about 90 minutes late the day went better than we had hoped for. Before the surgery the surgeon talked to us about what she was going to do. She went into her esophogus through her mouth with a small endoscope (camera) to have a look, then she ran a small wire down the endoscope and threaded the wire through the stricture in her esophogus. Since last week the hospital had gotten a new set of smaller dilators that actually run along the wire so they could easily get the dilator through the stricture. Then they slowly opened up the stricture. Before the surgery we agreed that if the surgeon was happy with how the stricture opened up and didn't feel this was going to need to happen many more times that we would not put in the G-Tube. If it was a tough stricture to open then she would come out and talk to us so we could make the G Tube decision.
The surgeon was very pleased with how easy the stricture was to dilate so therefore no G Tube, which also means Kiera did not have to stay in the hospital for 2 nights so everyone is back home in their own beds. The surgeon said that before the surgery the stricture had constricted the esophagus to a size 6 french (2 ml in diameter), after the surgery she opened it up to a 26 french (8.7 ml in diameter). The units of measure aren't important, the important part is that they were able to open it more than 4 times larger than it was before the surgery.
The next steps are now to see if Kiera remembers how to drink from a bottle. Her throat will be sore for the next few days so starting tomorrow we are to try to give her some water in a bottle and then slowly start introducing formula. Now that the stricture is fixed it's all up to her to show us what she can do.
The surgeon has already scheduled another dilatation for one month from now just in case the stricture comes back in that time frame and it is likely she will need at least one more dilatation but we'll have to wait and see about that one.
5 comments:
Well, this sounds like cause for celebration! I'm so happy that the outcome of this procedure is so positive. Now little Kiera - you show us all what you can do and start drinking :)
I love "Dilation Tuesday" waaayyy better than "Disappointing Tuesday"! So glad you're home and that the surgery was a success! Also that your concerns are being addressed seriously with the second dilation being scheduled!
Yippppppeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
That is awesome news Brenda....now it's Kiera's turn to 'show-off'! All the Best!!
so happy for all of you. Hope you can Keira and parents can get a little rest this week.
Nicole
Post a Comment