The Verdict Is In

The final decision has been made................

Zachary is getting his surgery on Thursday for his feeding tube.

I am still waiting on a call, as we were unable to speak with the GI (he was too busy and we had no appointment) We did get a chance to sit with his ARNP who went back and asked questions with him as needed. He agreed on the surgery and now the question is which type would he like the surgeon to preform, what type of tube (g, j, or gj) and if a nissan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissen_fundoplication) also needs to be done at the same time. So, there is a little more waiting to be done - a little more that is still unknown - BUT the main wait is over Zach WILL be getting this tube and very soon!

The surgeon told us there were 2 ways the procedure could be done and he will do which ever the GI would like - but he likes to do it laprascopically. He did say he wasn't going to use the peg tube (this is a picture of a peg: http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/dental/images/peg_tube_page.jpg ) he likes the one that is flush with the body because with the peg it can be pulled out too easily and is too long on the outside of the body, also because normally you would start with a peg and in 2 months go back and switch to the tube he is going to use - so might as well do this as the only step. I didn't catch the name but I'm assuming this is what it will be http://www.mic-key.com/index.asp?page=video . If the feeding tube is all that is going to be done he said Zach will have the tube placed for 24 hours then start his feedings, he will be in the hospital for 2-3 days. This also leads me to another question for our GI - if Zach will get admitted the day before surgery - this was talked about at some point before.

We did find out that the feedings should all be at night with 2 during the day, while still allowing him to eat by mouth, the more we get him to eat by mouth the less he will need to have via the pump during the day. The formula for his pump will be 100% covered by insurance because it is a medical necessity (they told us children who take this by mouth insurance will not cover) so we lucked out there. We will need to get Zach a pump, they told us they will work on getting him the smallest pump that they can find. I'm hoping it may be one of these, hopefully the top one (http://www.zevex.com/enteral/pumps/) as we will be taking it with us when we leave the house and it is easiest for him in the mini backpack.

I could go on and on but I'll wait for another day...........