The good news: Eric is slowly gaining weight and is now past the weight that he was when we first got to the hospital. He now weighs 13lbs 2 oz. When we got to the hospital, he was 13lbs 1oz.


There has been some confusion on whether or not Eric needs the Nissen fundoplication surgery along with the g-rube. The upper GI test and endoscopy/biopsy did not show any damage. A person at the high end of reflux should show damage. Eric also had a stomach bug and we found out today that it causes additional reflux. The pH probe may have been inaccurate.

Yesterday, the nd-tube was moved into the stomach and is now a ng-tube. G for gastric or stomach area. The group of doctors assigned to him think that the new meds he is now on will help with the reflux so Eric will not have to have the nissen surgery. The surgeons however, still think he needs the surgery. BUT, they also have has some incorrect data and Cris and I are wondering if they are also unaware of the stomach bug. This may be skewing their data. Cris only had the bug for 48 hours, but I had it for four days. When Eric was throwing up at night during sleep, he also had a slight fever each time. Eric also has a very low immune system and we are surrounded by sick people. He also did not have the stomach bug until he was in the hospital.

Eric did throw up this morning, but not at night. He did not throw up yesterday at all. Right now, it seems he mostly throws up in the mornings during the first feeds, which are combined with his meds, and then has another bottle and keeps it down. We may just have to play with his morning routine to get things under control.

I am not feeling good about the nissen surgery and after talking it over with Cris, we have both agreed that we want other opinions and more research done to make sure this is a necessary surgery. It may mean we spend another week or two in the hospital to find out for sure. This is a lifelong procedure so we want to make absolutely sure that Eric does need it. Eric still needs the G-Tube.

We will find out more on Monday after talking about it with the GI specialist and the surgeon who will be doing the procedure. Another night of tubal feedings will let us know more as well. It may just have been the stomach bug getting out of his system rather than the reflux.

Eric got over his stomach virus on Saturday, just as Joanna and I both came down with the same bug. Unlike Eric, neither of us smiled in between the vomiting and diarrhea. Took us longer to get over the stomach bug than it did Eric, as he is one tough little boy. On Saturday, the UMC staff finally put an IV into Eric to help re-hydrate him, after he stopped peeing and he had been losing weight steadily.

Monday, after going 20 hours without any food, except the IV, which is for fluid replacement, not nourishment, Eric finally underwent the biopsy, upper GI endoscopic exam, and the pH probe placement. Eric did really well under the general anesthetic, unlike his last experience. Eric only had 5 ounces of total food for Monday, after his 8 ounces he had on Sunday. Eric continues to lose weight, but the doctors are still waiting to get the results back from the pH probe later tonight, as well as the biopsy tomorrow. At that point, they will try some new anti-reflux medications. From there, we will see what happens, but it looks like to us that he will almost certainly need a G-tube inserted into his upper intestine or his stomach. So far today, Eric has only been able to keep 1 ounce of food down, so we will be pushing the staff at UMC for nutrition to be included in his IV.

We will try to keep the blog updated as we find out more, but the twitter updates will be easier for Joanna to do. We both just spent the last 48 hrs at the hospital, not leaving Eric's side.