February 15, 2010

TGIM! Not as catchy as TGIF, but thank God this weekend is over.

At 3:20 p.m. on Saturday Patrick went to lay Charlotte in her crib and in the process got the G-tube extension set caught between his body and her crib, pulling the Mic-Key button out of her. As he tried in vain to stop her stomach contents from gushing out I started making phone calls. We had been warned that should the tube come out we would have 2 hours to get her help or the hole would close.

The on-call pediatrician happened to be Dr. Colleen and she thought the surgeon in Hancock wouldn't want to touch it, so we hopped in the car for Marquette. About 5 minutes into our trip while I was on hold with the Marquette NICU Dr. Colleen called back and let us know they could insert a holder in Hancock so that we would not be as pressed for time.

Once we arrived in Hancock we learned that they were going to put in a Foley Tube, which was supposed to be good for at least 2-3 weeks. They said Marquette didn't have anything but the Foley Tube either, so it saved us a trip. Before we left our pediatrician let us know that the x-ray showed the doctor had placed the tube so deeply that it emptied into her intestines, bypassing her stomach. However, she didn't think it would be a problem. It was.

That night Charlotte started throwing up vibrant, green bile. I called the on-call pediatrician at 1 a.m. and she said to pull the tube back 1 inch. Then she called back in the morning and said to pull it back even more because she was concerned the balloon on the end of the tube might be causing a bowel obstruction. We did all of this but then realized before her noon feed that the tube had gone back into her stomach. Rather than guess at how far we should pull it out, we decided to take her back to the ER.

First, I called the on-call general surgical resident at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and they asked why they hadn't put the Mic-Key button back in. I wasn't sure so they called the ER in Hancock and talked to the doctor about how to put it back in. When I got to the ER the doctor took another x-ray and told me the Foley Tube was in the right place and we didn't need to take it out unless I wanted them to (apparently green bile and diarrhea were of little concern). I wanted them to. Charlotte got her Mic-Key button back and we are all much happier!

In between our trips to the ER Charlotte got to hangout with Pat's parents. It was nice to see them, but too bad their weekend here turned out to be so stressful. We left Charlotte with them for about 2 hours on Saturday night and went out for dinner and bowling. This was our first time leaving Charlotte with anyone besides a nurse. I think we were both in a bit of shock from the afternoon's events but it was nice to get out for a while.

While all of this was pretty terrible, it's nothing compared to what others are going through. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hoenisch's as Calvin was admitted to the hospital last week with a lung infection. We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to meeting him this spring.

We are very grateful for Charlotte's respiratory health and hope the end of cold/flu season comes quickly.