Surgical Update Part 2

I forgot to mention yesterday about what Dr. Jennings said about the status of Ellie's small bowel. He said it looked great! No dilation and it was all very pink with no strictures or adhesions. He said it looked a million times better than it looked last time he was in there. We did not have him measure her bowel, this would only have meant more time in the OR and more trauma for her. We know what we started with (around 30-40cm) and we know it is growing as she grows, now we just need to know what it can develop into.

Ellie also now has a new scar to add to the mix. Dr. Jennings didn't feel that he could reach all of her bowels using the old incision line, so he had to create a new opening. Gib and I were getting nervous about the ability of the old one to handle be opened one more time(it had already been opened 5 times), so we were happy to see the new suture line. The new one is just to the left of her belly button and it is vertical this time.

Ellie is doing very well. She looks much better this morning and is much more aware of her surroundings. The epidural is working beautifully and she is very comfortable. This is aided by the Benadryl that she is on, due to the itching caused by the narcotics in her epidural. With the Benadryl on board she is a very sleepy girl which is fine with us. If all you can do is lay in bed, you might as well be sleeping.

Both Ellie and her father are asleep right now which is good, we all need to catch up on some much needed sleep. Ellie slept for only short periods of time last night and Gib and I are having a hard time relaxing on this new floor. We are still on 10 South but hope to move to 10 East sometime this afternoon.

It is weird being here but not knowing any of the nurses, NPs or support staff. Even more frustrating is being here and having the staff not know us. We are getting some looks of skepticism when we ask questions and make requests. Many times we find that we are getting an answer but not the answer to the question we asked. I guess we also just miss our friends. Luckily we still have our great relationship with the surgical staff to help keep us sane.

We were in our room for about 10 minutes before Dr. Jennings came to check on our girl and then an hour later Dr Puder stopped by for a visit. This morning Dr. Gura stopped by and when rounds came through they were all familiar faces. The rounding surgical staff could not believe how big she was and they were all very happy with her recovery.

We will keep the epidural for the next few days and then see how she is doing. All in all Ellie is doing great and we are happy. Ellie has been asking for “Ga-Ga” (Karlene) and for “Good Dog Gus”. Hopefully she will see them both soon.