Surgery #? - G-tube closure

Today Ellie went in for surgery to fix this:

 

 

I've lost track of what number surgery this is.  It looks like she has two belly buttons but it is actually her g-tube site that had not closed completely on it's own.  All of the wrinkles are from the tape that we used to hold it together so her stomach wouldn't leak.  The g-tube has been out for 17 days and was still leaking so the next step was to send her to have it surgically closed.  Unfortunately, Dr. Downey, the surgeon who put in the g-tube was right when he said if they are in for over a year they have to be surgically closed.  We had really hoped that it would close on it's own.

 

This was happy Ellie on the way to the hospital. 
She can say a handful of words but can you believe that one of those words is sun-glass-es?
She will say what she is motivated to say!

We had talked to several people about the procedure and could never get a definite answer about what was going to happen.  I still can't believe how different the GI doctors are from the cardiologists with their answers.  The cardiologists always had the same, definite answers and the GI doctors are all over the place.  At first we heard that they would just stitch it up, thinking they would just stitch her on the outside of her belly.  Then we heard that they would use a little local anesthetic and she would be awake for the whole procedure.  Then we heard that they would just use gas to put her out.  When it finally came down to it today, they used the gas to put her out (totally out), then gave her an IV which is how they administered the anesthesia.  So it was like the worse case scenario for us.

 

Ellie in the pre-op clinic.  She was so happy and saying "bye-bye" and "ni-night"
to everyone...and then we ruined her day.

Unlike the last visit to the hospital, Ellie did not mind a thing that they did to her.  She was so happy and outgoing.  They had the pacemaker specialist adjust her pacemaker so that it would make her heart be paced through the whole procedure (Ellie sometimes paces herself).  There was another 2 year old girl sitting by us and Ellie was really outgoing and initiated playing with her.  Then we discovered a sheet of stickers on the seat beside us, almost like someone had left them there just for Ellie.  Oh, how she loves stickers!  She shared the stickers with the little girl and they were all over the place.  She was in such a good mood! The anesthesiologist was Dr. Chen, an Asian doctor who was really nice and personable.  We walked down the hall together and then I handed her over and was expecting a lot of resistance and crying and tears which there were none to be spoken of.  Dr. Chen took her and said "Do you want to come with Auntie Krissy?".  It made me smile because, being Asian, everyone is an "Auntie".  :)

On my way to the waiting room, I passed Dr. Gray who I've named Ellie's hero.  I don't know if he remembers me since it's been over a year but we said hello.  It's fun going back to Primary Children's and seeing those familiar faces.  I always wonder if they remember Ellie since she has had quite a history there.  We also saw the un-conjoined Herrin twins who have been pretty popular in Utah.  This is actually the second time that we've seen them in surgery.  Gosh, if I think Ellie has a history at PCMC, these girls are probably known by their middle names!

The surgery took about an hour and things went well.  The surgeon, Dr. Barnhart, had to actually make an incision (we were told by others that there would be no cuts and they would use a scope...nope), pull the stomach out a little, close it, and then remove some of the scar tissue around the opening.  Dr. Chen said Ellie would be out of "being out" and drinking when I saw her because it was such a short acting anesthetic. 

When I saw Ellie she was sad and it got even worse.  It was hard to know if it was because she was hungry or because of pain.  She kept saying "ni-ni" (milk) so we skipped the clear liquids to see if the milk would calm her.  We tried sippy cups, straws, and bottles, but nothing would calm her down even if it was ni-ni.  The nurse finally decided to give her some pain medication which she said would kick in quickly.  It didn't seem to do a thing.  She was at her max for pain meds so the next option was to give her some phentanol to help her sleep.  It took a few minutes, but she finally calmed down and slept.  Once they moved us to post op we just had to wait an hour since her last dose of pain medication and then we could go home.  When the time was up the nurse took off all the cords and IV and I got her dressed, and then Ellie threw up.  I wasn't sure they were going to discharge us because I thought she had to keep everything down.  We waited another few minutes and she slept the whole time and things were good so we were out of there.

All night Ellie hasn't been able to keep anything down.  She was trying to eat and drink and we hesitated giving her any medication because it was going to be useless.  Then I thought about putting some essential oils on her to help with her nausea.  I pulled out the peppermint and put it on her stomach and behind her ears and I swear that is the reason why she hasn't thrown up.  Essential oils...they really do work!  That, along with some rainy, fresh air, and being out with the neighborhood kids made her get back to her regular self. 

Today was closure for all of us.  Closure of Ellie's g-tube site, being rid of the g-tube and another obstacle overcome. This should be the last surgery that Ellie has until she needs to have her pacemaker replaced in 3-4 years.

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.