Nanette Jo Cooke

Thursday, May 04, 2006

More vomit

According to JoAnn, our baby is still throwing up her food. Apparently, there was something in her vomit that got Dr. Jay going, because he ordered an upper and lower GI.

I'll know more tomorrow when I check in, but if the vomit has green in it, it could be bilious, indicating an intestinal blockage. That's entirely possible, especially in a kid whose intestines never got settled in to the correct place. They start out in the chest cavitiy normally, but move into the abdomen at about 8-10 weeks gestation. After that, there are several points of attachment that secure the small intestines to the inside of the abdomen. In some babies, like Nanette, who don't have those anchor points, the bowel can get twisted up. That's what happened to our little friend Joshua. He lost two-thirds of his small intestines because of that, and now he has "short gut" syndrome, which means that he can't digest food very well.

I assume the Upper GI will be a barium drink (barium shows up white on an x-ray) although I don't think they can use barium if there is any blockage. The lower GI is the same, except it covers the colon and it might be done using floroscopy (the motion-picture version of x-ray.) Also, with the lower GI procedure, the barium goes in through the rectum. Not that poor little Nanette cares. She's been poked and prodded and x-rayed more than most adults.

Anyway, Nanette is on close watch again. Keep her in your prayers.

2 Comments:

  • At 7:57 PM, May 04, 2006, Blogger Spider said…

    Hi Joe!

    Don't forget to post today's good news! Like the fact that Mommy got to hold her for two hours this morning! - first time since surgery #2. Plus, she had her last chest tube removed, and was moved back into her big crib. She likes the extra space, plus it's decorated so cute it makes her feel good.

    Can't wait to see you and the kids tomorrow.

    Love, JoAnn

     
  • At 9:25 PM, May 04, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    We will.
    EP

     

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