Well they were unsuccessful with the nasal feeding tube, after much diliberation, (especially since his condition got worse) we finally decided to let the doctors operate and put in a feeding tube through his belly button and feed him that way and see how it goes.
By this time he had been without food for5 days and was in the process of starving to death. We had a few family disagreements regarding if doing the surgery to put in the stomach feeding tube was considered extraordinary measures or not. I didn't feel it was, but my mother did. Two siblings felt it was going to far to try and keep him alive, and the last one agreed with me... so it was a long discussion and thankfully we got everyone to sort of agree to give my side a try.
At least if it didn't work or didn't help, we could discontinue feedings like they did for the gal in Florida. So they scheduled the surgery, and due to complications he was unable to take any feedings through it for another 24 hours... and once they did, he kept having problems, but we kept trying. I was staying at the hospital 18 to 20 hours a day, to make sure his needs were being taken care of ... that he was getting pain meds as needed, that they kept the surgerical site clean and free from infection.
The first 24 hours he was only able to tolerate 2 oz of feeding stuff. That evening the tech's came to take him for more tests, and they unfortunately kept him laying flat on his back eventhough they were told not to. I had left the hospital and my mom took over and no one was in the room when he got back and the tech's didn't notify the nurses that he was back, so he was left on his back. So the feeding stuff came up his esophogus and he asperated (it went into his lungs) and he couldn't cough it out due to being paralyzed.
He ended up getting pneumonia and my mom didn't want it treated, because antibiotics were extra ordinary measures, so we were only allowed to treat the fever with tylenol. So I got the nurse to hook up the suction system.... and every time some of the stuff would come out into the bottom of his throat, I would stick the tubing down his throat and kept sucking it up... and we managed to beat the pneumonia the old fashioned way.
He finally started tolerating more and more of the feeding..and he started therapy. To make a long story short, after lots of work in the last 7 days since he got his feeding tube put in.... he can now eat soft foods, (but he is still having to get tube feedings at night)... He can walk the length of the parrallel bars at physical therapy, he can pull himself up out of his wheelchair. He can also mostly dress himself already and is learning to talk. It will still be a long road to recovery, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
UniKorn Tiger · Fri May 06, 2005 @ 05:17am · 3 Comments |