Busy Week

We are having some technical difficulties getting the pictures from last weekend onto the photo gallery. Hoping to get them up early next week.

Well, this week started with a bang! Monday at about 4pm, Mason's feeding tube became clogged. This usually happens on a daily basis and we are able to free up the clog with some warm water and a little pressure from a syringe. Unfortunately this clog would not budge! We tried water and coke to no avail. We had to make a trip to the ER, which happened to be on one of the most busy evenings, to try and get the tube unclogged. The ER docs tried orange juice, cranberry juice, sodium bicarbonate, and some other special remedies. Nothing worked! It was then we got the disappointing news that they would need to start an IV (so that Mason would not dehydrate) and admit him overnight so that he could have a new tube placed on Tuesday. I stayed with Mason while Travis went home to sleep and work the next day. Mason was finally admitted to a room at 3am. The next day he received a new tube at 2pm. The tube went in fairly easily compared to some of the other placements he has experienced. I was impressed and the docs discharged us right away so that we could take him home and start his feeds and give him his meds.

We did discover something positive with this experience. Since Mason had not been fed for a few hours, we tried to feed him a bottle in the ER. He sucked down an ounce and wanted more. He is only allowed an ounce every 3 hours to prevent lung damage if he aspirates so we had to take the bottle away and replace it with his pacifier. This shows us that Mason is capable of feeding orally but is just not hungry or interested when he is continuously fed. We have some high hopes when he gets his g-tube and moves to bolus feeds. Once he can feel hunger, I think he will surprise us all!

The next morning, Mason started to gag on his new tube and vomited. When he did this the tube came out of his nose pretty far (enough for me to be concerned). We then made a trip to his pediatricians office for an x-ray to confirm tube placement. We were lucky and the tube stayed in his intestines (I have no idea how).

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Mason started Previcid to help with his reflux. He was previously on Prilosec that he had to take orally. I think he only kept it down a couple of times. The Previcid can go into his NJ tube and so far seems to really be helping!