Austin's surgery went perfect. Thank you all so much for your prayers. What a blessing.
It lasted 4 hours and he first had a bronchoscopy. The ENT said his trachea was in bad shape and that it was so inflamed due to chronic/severe stomach acid always in there. The good thing is, it was being fixed as we spoke by a group of different surgeons! By tying off his belly, it'll stop the acid from coming up and destroying his trachea/esophagus. He said there could be scar tissue damage in his trachea so he still may always sound a little "gravely" but a lot of it is reversible.
Then the stomach surgeons came out and said that the surgery went great. He had a large hiatial gap that they sewed up as well as tying the upper stomach around the esophagus to close off the stomach from any more acid coming up. They put a tiny tube in his esophagus so they wouldn't sew it too tight, then removed the tube. He will not be able to belch or vomit so there will be some life-changing things we'll have to get used to, but it's worth it.
Austin came out of anesthesia fine. He's on morphine but still is in pain. He says, "it feels like I'm bleeding and having a heart attack" :( But he's such a fighter! That's all he knows and he's so brave to go through all of this. Jonathan and I have been extremely emotional throughout all this! You never want to see your child in pain. But mostly we've been so overcome by gratitude that we feel for how wonderful the procedures have gone.
Children's Hospital has impeccable Doctors, but isn't in the best part of DC. We shared a room in ICU last night with 3 other kids and their parents (a 6 month old crying baby being one of them). Lights on all night, loud doctors, etc. But we received excellent surgical care by nationally reknowned surgeons.
Austin goes to the pediatric unit today and will stay there the next 4 days and nights. Jonathan and I are doing shift work. We relieve each other every day at 7pm. Grandma LaBarbera and Ashley are having a blast here at home together. Ash misses Austin and always asks where he is.
Thanks again for the love, thoughts, prayers from all of you. We felt them and are overwhelmed with gratitude for this successful outcome.
12 comments:
I am so happy all is well! I am emotional too...what a trooper that Austin is...Tate will be looking forward to having his buddy over for a playdate soon. Let us know if you guys (or your Mom) need anything!
Thank you for the update. I am so glad that everything is going as planned. Austin is such a trooper. Please let us know if you need anything at all. We're here to help. We'd love to have Ashley come over on Friday morning to play.
That is so good to hear, I've been thinking about you guys. What a blessing to have this done and that he is okay. What a cutie. Hope the recovery goes well and that he's out and about soon. Give us a call if you all need something.
Hi Ang,
SO GLAD the surgery is over! Hang in there guys.
Love you.
Yea Yea Yea I'm so relieved everything went well!! That picture of him asleep with all the tubes is heart breaking. Reminds me of Collin in the NICU with all the tubes.
We are so relieved, I know all the stress and worry you have been over. We can't wait for him to feel better all the time.
We've been thinking about you guys too all week! We're grateful and relieved to hear all is well. Way to go Austin!
I am very relieved that everything went so well with Austin's surgery. He is such a brave little boy.
Reading about all the Doctor's did, it is amazing.
We will continue to be thinking of you guys and hope things continue to go well.
I am so glad Austin's surgery is over. I thought and prayed for him so many times yesterday. You have a lot to be thankful for. What an enormous surgery for anyone, much less a little boy. will continue to pray for his recovery. Carol Bell (Lynn's mom)
Angie- we have been thinking of you guys! I am so grateful that everything went well and I am so proud of the little guy for being such a trooper! I am so happy for you that it is all over with! Yippee!
I am so glad that everything went well and that you guys were even able to come home early! Way to go Austin! I know you guys must be so relieved to have this behind you! By the way, I saw Dr. Eddie at the hospital and he asked about you each time I saw him. He told me to tell you to call if you want to talk about anything!
Hey guys -- I am so happy that Austin's surgery went well! My thoughts and prayers are with all of you as he recovers from this surgery. I know both of you have so much faith and strength, which has probably affected his fabulous recovery. You all are in my thoughts. Love, Cindy
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