Unexpected Turn

Some of you already know, but the Upper GI we had scheduled for Weston on Friday, April 30th did not turn out the way we expected. We thought we would go in for the same test Jackson had and find out that we might have a severe case of reflux and possibly a case of aspiration. We had no way of anticipating the news we received that day.

The x-rays showed that there was a problem with Weston's anatomy, a problem with his small intestines. He has what we now know is called a malrotation which resulted in a volvulus (those with medical knowledge reading this - have pity on me! I am just learning and may not explain this all correctly). Basically what that means is that Weston's intestines did not rotate completely like they should have, leaving them free to move around in his abdomen. When that happens, the intestines have the chance to twist and cause problems such as vomiting, and worse case, a complete bowel obstruction.

We, thankfully, caught this early before Weston became very ill. This, and reflux, was the reason that Weston has not been able to keep his food down and eating non-stop. Apparently, most of the time, by the time this condition presents itself, babies are severely dehydrated and quickly loosing weight. But because our pediatrician was so aggressive with Weston, we caught it before any of that happened.

We found out this information late Friday afternoon and by Friday night we were admitted into the hospital and Weston was scheduled for surgery the very next morning. It was a whirlwind and we did not really have the time to process it all. In fact, Friday night the doctors were talking to us about doing a laproscopic procedure, but by Saturday morning, we found out that a more invasive procedure was going to be done. They ended up going in for exploratory surgery, completing a LADDS procedure and an appendectomy. We were blown away when they told us all of this!

At first we were frustrated and angry with God about all of this, and sad to admit, we were in a place of self-pity. Hadn't we gone through enough with Jackson?!? But then we thought about it and prayed. Truly, had we not gone through what we had with Jackson, our pediatrician would not have been so aggressive and we could have found ourselves in a more serious situation. Also, we are very comfortable with the staff and medical world, which is due to our experiences with Jackson as well. So, it was a blessing that we had the preparation to handle this. Moreover, thanks be to God that he has blessed so many wonderful doctors with the knowledge and skill to be able to fix and heal our sweet precious son.

We were in the hospital for five days with Weston. He healed quickly and basically with no complications. We did have a hard time keeping an IV in and it was horrific watching them stick him over and over again to try to get one in - but all in all, it was a great experience that went off without a hitch. It was hard to watch him be so hungry and not be able to feed him, but I did finally get ahead with pumping which I had been trying to do for quite sometime.

I know it seems strange to photograph Weston in this state, but I feel it is important to document this event in his life. Although he was "hooked up" while he was there, he really started to look healthier than he ever had and he finally started to "chunk" up.

We want to say thank you for all of our wonderful family and friends who really stepped up and showed us so much support through all of this. We could NOT have gotten through all of this without you and your prayers. Poor Jackson's little world has completely been swept out from under him, but thanks to our family, they were there to catch him during all of this.

Weston is doing just fine now and returned home without needing to be on any other medication besides his Prevacid for reflux. What a blessing. Again, thank you so much for all of your prayers!!!