Wednesday, August 10, 2005

WOW, what a day!

Today started out very exciting to say the least. I was in the shower when I heard through the door Amy yelling with a panicked voice MOM, Luke just had his G-J tube accidently pulled out. I could not hear what she was saying and just hearing the panic in her voice thought, oh no Luke is not breathing and thinking how can that be since he was doing okay just a few minutes ago. But then I realized that she was saying that his tube had been pulled out, what should she and Natalie do. I immediately called the Dr.'s office and they put me on hold for a few minutes, finally she came back and told me that she had paged someone and they would call me back. Well I finished getting ready and still no call from the office, so I decided that I better take Luke into the ER so that they could tell me what to do. While I was driving the Dr.'s office finally called and told me to go ahead and go to the ER. When I got there I realized that I drove the car without any strollers in the back and had to carry Luke, his suction machine/diaper bag and my heavy purse, I was just about to go in the door when they called back to tell me to come to the office instead, needless to say I was out of breath by the time I got back to the car and over to the Dr.'s office. The nurse was able to put in a tube and told me that I would probably have to wait at least 4 to 6 hours before having the procedure done since he had just been fed through his g-tube into his stomach. I had resigned myself to think that I would be spending another day in the Dr.'s office and at the Hospital when the nurse came back and said that since Luke had only had about 50 mls go into his stomach they thought that they could get me in right away.

As I was on my way to the Hospital I had called a few family members and friends to pray and they in turn called even more people to pray, I thought about all of our faithful friends out there in blog land and I was wishing there was an easy way to let you all know. Needless to say, I felt the Lord going before us each step of the way. The nurse came back almost immediately and told us since it was such a small amount of food that they could take us over at the hospital right now. We were out of the Hospital by 12:00, which was awesome considering what we had been told earlier.

Here's an update on how Luke's Gastronologist appt went last Friday. After discussing with the Dr. our concerns about Luke's reflux problem that he has been having for a long time, we all thought that a Nissen Fundoplication was probably the best road to go down. Before we can schedule that procedure we first need to have a gastric emptying study done on him. So we go in tomorrow, Wednesday for a gastric emptying study, please be praying for Luke as he will have to lay on a straight board, for an hour, while they feed him some of his formula into his g-tube with some radio active fluid in it and then watch with an X-ray machine on a computer screen to see if his stomach is emptying okay. We will meet with the surgeon next Tuesday afternoon to talk to him about the results and whether Luke is a good candidate for this procedure. It will be at least a 5 day stay in the Hospital if we have it done we are not looking forward to that of course, but are hoping that it will make a huge difference in Luke's health.

Please be praying that God will continue to help Luke keep his lungs free from excess secretions and to keep him breathing smoothly. We've not had to use any oxygen for almost a month now which has been an awesome thing. We continue to see progress with Luke's arms, wrists and fingers relaxing on a daily basis and we are also seeing more of a bend in Luke's legs PTL. Our new PT has been showing me some wonderful ways to help Luke get more productive coughs and help him to be able to take big breaths of air.

We were blessed once again on Saturday. Phillip and KimDeBord, who we had never met before but have been praying for Luke and our family since last August volunteered to come over and pressure wash our home for free. What a huge job! Phillip also got our roof clean at the same time. We are now getting the paint picked out, we are going with darker green for the home and a light mint green for the trim. We hope to have the house completely painted by August 20th. Please be praying that it will go smoothly and that we will be able to get it done without any major setbacks. Also be praying that we will be able to take our camping trip in our trailer at the end of August, we all feel like we need some time to relax and just have a time of no schedules and some fun family time together. We hope to be able to go to the Oregon coast if Luke is healthy, one of our most favorite places to go.

We pray that our Heavenly Father will bless you with His peace and love today.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sue,
I will NEVER forget the day Izzy pulled out her g-tube! We woke up early and I reached over to touch her and just realized there was no g-tube. I screamed! Matt turned ont he lights and we somehow got it in ourselves. It was just the g-tube/not the j-g-tube. But it had been out a little while and was really hard to get back in. I am so glad it all worked out okay, I know what a scare that can be. Your family and luke remain in our prayers.
Love,
Annie

Anonymous said...

That must have been so scary for you!!

As always your in our prayers! and I do hope you and your family will get some quiet time to go on your trip. You sure deserve it!!

Anonymous said...

Sue,
Our computer just got hooked up today from our move last week so I got to check the blog for the first time in a long time. We have continued to think and pray for Luke and you all but was glad the Lord timed it to pick today with your update- praise the Lord for His guidance and Sovreign Hand in our lives- as He seems to be pointing to the surgery. We pray and claim this will be a major victory in Luke's health. Hope to talk soon! Love in Christ, Nebraska Mary

Teena said...

OH wow, I was out of breath just reading! I know you were so scared. YOU handled things so well. I am praying for all of you.

How are the children? How is Daniel doing? Michael starts his 3rd year of college and he has worked all summer so did not come home to live. :( We miss him a lot but see him about once a week.

Thank you so much for the update.
You all are so very special to me.
I wish we were closer so I could make a meal for all of you and come by and give Luke/Lily a big hug!
your Ga friends~
Billy, Teena, Michael, Mandi, Dakota, Alyssa, Wyatt & Wesley

Aletheia said...

Dear Mrs. Searles,
Would you please explain what a Nissen Fundoplication surgery is for those of us who don't know?
Thanks!