The Nissan Works!

So even after his surgery it seemed as though Bridger was still refluxing and that he was in the 5% of patients that the surgery had not been successful. On Thursday he had another upper GI study which showed that the Nissan is intact. However he has slowed motility in his esophagus and is still having severe pain from something, but we don't know what. Bridger is unable to have a scope of his throat due to the Nissan (he cannot expel the air that would be injected) so we can't look for esophageal trauma. So for now the doctors have to go through the process of elimination. He also is not shedding fluid very well because of his heart function which is causing him to work harder while breathing. He is trying so hard, we hope sometime soon he can have a little normalcy in his life.

---------Staci

60 days

Well we have been here for 8 & 1/2 weeks and still going strong. Bridger is recovering well from his last surgery. The doctors had tried stretching his stomach so that he could be fed intermittently, but he is not ready for that yet. So for the next little while we will keep him on continuous tube feedings while he continues to recuperate. Other than that we are just hanging tight and taking things slow.

--------Staci

New Bridger Pictures (thanks for sending them Papa)

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So today is day 2 after surgery. It was a little better than yesterday, he is uncomfortable from surgery and the fact that he is now getting food into his stomach after two months of not. We have been working on getting his digestive system moving again and making sure he can tolerate food in his stomach. He is on oxygen and his lungs are wet, so that is also another project to work on. Hopefully next week we will be able to start therapies again for his strengthening.

-----Staci

Surgery is over

Bridger had his suregery today at 12:15pm. Everything went according to plan for him so far, the surgeon tightened his stomach around the esophagus and placed a feeding tube to the left of his belly button. He came out angry because of being re-intubated so he was given a little extra sedation so that he wouldn't damage his throat with the breathing tube in. We will see in the coming days if this procedure has helped to make Bridger more comfortable (I hope!!!).

--------Staci

Surgery Tommorrow!

So we are scheduled for Bridger to have the Nissan procedure and G-tube placement tommorrow. We are very hopeful that this will help to feel more comfortable and more able to direct his energy toward healing instead of wretching all of the time. The surgery should start about 12:15 and take about 90 minutes if all goes well, they will be re-intubating him, but hopefully not for too long. I'll let you know how everything goes once we are settled.

--------Staci

Hmmmm.........

I just don't know what to say, yesterday we went down for a study of Bridger's stomach and intestines to make sure that the Nissan surgery was warranted for him. He had what we thought was a bloody nose before we went down, but it had stopped. During the middle of the test he began to vomit blood and this continued even back up in the ICU. During all of this he aspirated some of the blood into his lungs which has caused him to have a more difficult time breathing, but did show the neccessity of having the procedure to improve his reflux. So he received a blood transfusion last night and is resting today. The doctors and nurses will monitor his respiratory status closely and we will move forward with the plans for the Nissan as soon as Bridger is well enough to tolerate it. So for now we are just resting.

---------Staci