Good news

Carson gets to go home!!! Praise Jesus : ) They do believe we have found another area the teratoma damaged and believe the slow emptying of his stomach is due in part to the teratoma's affect. His vagal nerve probably was damaged from the teratoma and so his sphincter in this stomach is not opening properly, so it does not let food pass out of his stomach as fast as it should. Babies should empty their stomach about 1 hour after eating and Carson takes over 4 hours to empty his stomach which is unusual. This isn't an urgent problem, but the doctors will be monitoring and determine what steps to take in the future. The plan now is to carry his puke bowl around and just get really good at catching puke : ), which Liz and Preston are already professionals. For now, Carson is super excited to go home and get uninterrupted sleep and Kellen can't wait to have his mommy, daddy, and buddy home. Thank you all for your prayers. We are eternally grateful.

Patience

Preston, Elizabeth, and Carson are getting frustrated with the continued stay in the hospital. They are doing much better with being patient than most would, but are ready to get home and back to a normal routine. What was supposed to be a simple surgery for the G-tube with the more difficult part being the airway is turning into quite a situation. Carson still was not emptying his stomach properly, so they sent him back to do a G-tube series this morning. Elizabeth just told his they still do not see his stomach emptying properly on this study. They do not know why, and Elizabeth and Preston do not know what the next step is. It is so difficult to try to entertain a child in a hospital, let the child get sleep (because he is woken up all the time with another individual wanted to come in and poke and prod), try to get sleep yourself, and be away from your family. They are handling it like saints, but please keep them in your prayers. We are praying for wisdom for the physicians, because we all are at a loss as to why Carson is not emptying his stomach. Praying for God to heal Carson and send peace to Liz and Preston that he is protecting and caring for Carson.

Wed March 20, 2013

Thank you all for your prayers.  Carson was feed at 3:30pm, but had fairly significant residual food in his stomach 4 hours later; as a result, they feel it is important for him to spend another night in the hospital.  Please keep up your prayers for Carson's healing, and continued patience for Liz and Preston.

Good news

Carson is out of surgery. He did not end up having a twisted stomach. The doctors found an internal hernia. His omentum (layer of tissue around the abdominal cavity) developed a hole and his stomach and part of his colon had moved through the hole and were creating an internal hernia. They fixed this hole by creating a horseshoe shape so nothing can get caught there again. This probably occurred during one of his procedures to place a G-tube. The good news is they were able to use the newest G-tube site, but did have to extend the incision more to get the hernia repaired. Overall, Liz and Preston feel it was a successful surgery. They will start feedings in 24 hours, and then hopefully, he will tolerate this well. Be praying for his healing and pain after this procedure. The first day or two after his last surgery was difficult for him and Liz and Preston. We continue to pray for healing and hope to have our sweet boy back in Dexter feeling great very soon.

In surgery

Elizabeth just texted me at 12:30 and they are on their way to surgery. Carson's blood sugar came up, and off he went. We continue to pray.

March 19, 2013

Hopefully, surgery will be today early afternoon. Unfortunately, Carson has not been urinating well and his blood sugar is 53 (low) today. They don't know exactly why he isn't urinating. They are going to give him more dextrose to help with the blood sugar, but poor little guy hasn't gotten much in the way of food since last Wednesday. He has IV fluids, but still is not urinating, so we just keep praying. As I hear more, I will try to keep things updated.

More info

I just spoke to Elizabeth on the phone. They are at Cardinal Glennon. They were evaluated and the doctors believe Carson's stomach is twisted. As a result, food is not able to pass through the stomach. This could have happened before, during, or after his procedure on Thursday. Ultimately, as frustrating as it is, we are just praying we can successfully get this fixed so our sweet boy can come home. With his stomach being twisted, our biggest prayer is this can be fixed without harm to Carson, it can be done without having to open him up all the way (so hopefully done laparoscopically), and he can heal well. We do not know what time he will have surgery tomorrow, because the doctor's schedules are busy. We will update as we know, but please just pray for wisdom, skill, knowledge for the doctor's and success. They may have to make a third incision for his G-tube, because if his stomach is twisted the current site probably won't work. Thank you for your prayers. Carson has been a trooper through this whole process and continues to light up the room with his smile.