A Plan Moving Forward

Well, little Gwendolyn’s situation finally has some direction.

After Monday’s swallow study results, the O.T. attempted feeding Gwen. Unfortunately, that feeding did not go well. As a result, the decision has been made that Gwendolyn will have a G-tube placed in her stomach as her throat is just not ready for regular oral feeds yet.

We will monitor her growth and hope that it will be a temporary situation. Unfortunately, the swallow study is the best route to monitor her progress. Because of the extreme radiation involved, she can only be given those in six-month intervals for five minutes at a time. So, Gwen will have this feeding tube in for at least six months. If she’s still having difficulties during her next swallow study, it’ll be another six months before we can retest her, and so on.

Also, she is in the midst of completing her pH test as we speak to diagnosis her reflux situation. If it is determined that she does have reflux then when they insert her G-tube they will also close off the sphincter that typically connects the esophagus to the stomach. If not, then they will only insert the feeding tube.

The good news is that both procedures will take place at the same time, will be minimally invasive, and can be reversed with relative ease. They’ll enter via Gwen’s belly button and then insert two small pin-sized probes on either side of her stomach. That’s all they’ll need to complete this procedure. Typical recovery is about one week in length. So, IF we can get the results of the pH test deciphered by the end of the week, we should be able to get the G-tube and (if needed) stomach close off scheduled to take place next week. Assuming all goes well with those procedures and the subsequent healing process, Gwen would only be in the hospital for another week after that just to ensure her body’s handling everything okay.

So HOPEFULLY we’ll have her back home with Braelyn by Christmas. What a ride it’s been. Still, we are so blessed that we’ve got direction and that Gwen’s been such a trooper throughout this process.

As all the above gets finalized I’ll be sure to update... until then.

***Little side note from Mom.....Gwendolyn smiled her first "non-gas" smile at me today! It brought me to tears. Our baby girl is going to be OK. ;-)

And, thank you to everyone who has posted comments of support to us. We can't tell you how much your love and prayers has helped us get through this time with our girls.

-Heather