Well, we thought things were improving with Aiden. They seemed to be progressively getting better over the past few days, but when I got to the hospital this morning, the nurse said he had really had a rough night. His respiratory problems were starting to reappear, and his bowel was filling up with air again. To stabilize him, they stopped his feedings and turned the pressure on the ventilator way up. They were able to wean him back off of those high settings a little bit throughout the day today, but even then, they had to keep them pretty high. The neonatologist told me that they now think the respiratory problems are being caused by the bowel problem. He had called the pediatric surgeon at Primary Children's Hospital for a consult and was waiting for him to look at Aiden's latest x-rays and call back with his thoughts. He also ordered a gastrograph, where they inject contrast dye into his colon and large intestine. This allows them to see the structure of the bowel better. He thought there was a real possibility that the pediatric surgeon would call before the study and tell them not to do the gastrograph and just transport him to Primary Children's Hospital for possible surgery. I called Amaraa and told her that she had better get herself ready so that we would be prepared if they decided to transfer him up to PCH.
I went and picked Skylar up from school and went home. Amaraa and I decided to run some errands as we waited for a call from the hospital. The gastrograph was scheduled for 3:00 PM and I wanted to be at the hospital for that. We ran our errands and were surprised that we did not receive any calls from the hospital. We headed home and picked Skylar and Jasmine up and then drove to the hospital. The kids couldn't go into the NICU, so Amaraa and I took turns tending kids in the waiting room while the other one of us went in with Aiden. Amaraa wanted me to go in first because she was a bit uncomfortable with the gastrograph. When I went in, they had already started the gastrograph. They had Aiden lying on a table within a special x-ray machine. They had two large monitors set up where they were watching the x-ray images in real time. I was standing next to the neonatologist and when they were finished, the pediatric radiologist came over to us to give us a report. He said that he didn't see any structural problems, constrictions or perforations in the lower bowel. The neonatologist explained to me that with this test, the radiologist can only see up to the valve between the large and small intestines. She did say, though, that not seeing a problem in the lower part of the bowel is very encouraging because it is in the lower bowel that they see the majority of constrictive and structural problems. They are going to let him rest for a few days and then do a similar study on the top section of the bowel.
We still don't know what's wrong with Aiden. The neonatologist said that it could just be that he was born early and his bowel hasn't fully developed yet. Even though we aren't any closer to figuring out what the problem is, at least we are ruling out some of the things that it isn't. One thing is for sure, though: Aiden is a pretty uncomfortable little guy, and that's hard to watch. I wish they could just figure out what is causing the problem and get it solved so we could work toward getting him healthy and getting him home.
I went and picked Skylar up from school and went home. Amaraa and I decided to run some errands as we waited for a call from the hospital. The gastrograph was scheduled for 3:00 PM and I wanted to be at the hospital for that. We ran our errands and were surprised that we did not receive any calls from the hospital. We headed home and picked Skylar and Jasmine up and then drove to the hospital. The kids couldn't go into the NICU, so Amaraa and I took turns tending kids in the waiting room while the other one of us went in with Aiden. Amaraa wanted me to go in first because she was a bit uncomfortable with the gastrograph. When I went in, they had already started the gastrograph. They had Aiden lying on a table within a special x-ray machine. They had two large monitors set up where they were watching the x-ray images in real time. I was standing next to the neonatologist and when they were finished, the pediatric radiologist came over to us to give us a report. He said that he didn't see any structural problems, constrictions or perforations in the lower bowel. The neonatologist explained to me that with this test, the radiologist can only see up to the valve between the large and small intestines. She did say, though, that not seeing a problem in the lower part of the bowel is very encouraging because it is in the lower bowel that they see the majority of constrictive and structural problems. They are going to let him rest for a few days and then do a similar study on the top section of the bowel.
We still don't know what's wrong with Aiden. The neonatologist said that it could just be that he was born early and his bowel hasn't fully developed yet. Even though we aren't any closer to figuring out what the problem is, at least we are ruling out some of the things that it isn't. One thing is for sure, though: Aiden is a pretty uncomfortable little guy, and that's hard to watch. I wish they could just figure out what is causing the problem and get it solved so we could work toward getting him healthy and getting him home.
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