Matthew's Feeding Tube Surgery (A Success)

Here's a picture to show you how skinny Matthew is before surgery. You can see his ribs. This picture was taken a year ago and I don't have a recent pic that shows his belly but just imagine, he weight 27 lbs in the picture and was 33 inches tall. Now, before surgery he is 28 lbs and 36 inches tall.. He looks much thinner than this picture.

The day before surgery they put an IV in his arm. We went to bed and I had been getting up to roll him over several times but this time I just sat straight up in bed. I thought I had a dream or something. I reached over to turn him over and when I felt his arm I "freaked"! I flipped the light switch on because something didn't feel right when I touched his arm. I looked and it was three, maybe four times it's normal size!!! I woke mom up and told her and she's Like', yea that happens when the IV comes out of the vain... I never knew it could happen. lol It looked horrible! I called the nurse and they took it out was going to put it in another place. I told them I think they could wait for a few hours because He's probably in enough pain (but he seemed ok). Mom said it was painful for a little while. It finally went down about 8 hours later.





Here's a pic after surgery. It looks bigger in the pic. The round stopper is about the size of a quarter. The long tube will be replaced by MIKEY BUTTON IN EIGHT WEEKS.

iT LEAKS A LITTLE but I keep it clean with soap & water. The whole is only as big around as the tube.


At first it was stressfull for me to give the first feeding after we were home. "Someone" was trying to tell me how to do it when "that someone" wasn't even there when they showed me how. lol Luckily I didn't listen cuz he was
wrooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnggg! lol He knows who he is. Anyway after pouring milk and tylenol all over me and matthew I stopped to "gain my composure" I was really nervous. I tried again in a few minutes with NO ONE around and did it! Now I can feed and give meds with very little light if I have to after only one week!

Aunt Grace sent Matthew Balloons from PA! Thanks aunt Grace!


Well, it's been almost a week since surger. Matthew was sore the first few days and is still picky about moving his tube but he has not cried or been in a lot of pain.
I can get his food down him and meds within 30 minutes now. If I don't think he's had enough during the day, I can sneak in his room and give him an extra feeding without even waking him up.

Even his seizures are less. He had NONe during the day unless he takes a nap and for the first time in months, he took a nap and didn't have a siezure. He has skipped on night where he didn't have a seizure before going to bed for the night.

I am confident I made the right decision and it was the HARDEST I ever made. To me it was just another confirmations that matthew will never be normal.. But when it comes to keeping him with me longer, it doesn't matter. I have learned to accept his disablities one disability at a time, one day at a time. This surgery was no worse, for Matthew, than getting tubes put in his ears. It was very easy for him. It may not be easy for every child but it was for Matthew and I am so glad! It was nothing compared to his hip surgery. (that was a rough surgery)
Well, we are going to town and just fool around alittle while.
Charlotte