July 5th, 2011 – Feeding Tube Surgery

We have been told that this coming Tuesday Emmalin will be getting her feeding tube put in at the St. Louis Children's Hospital. This is a day that Jarrad and I are dreading and are very excited for all at the same time. We are dreading it because we don't want our baby girl to be in any type of pain (no parent ever wants that). But we are VERY excited about all of the ways it is going to help Emmalin. She is down now to 23.6 pounds. Emmalin hasn't gained any weight since her birthday, which was almost 7 months ago. Actually since her birthday, she has even lost 2 pounds and it is for this reason alone that we are counting down the days! We know that God has it all under control and are trusting that He is going to help Emmalin have a speedy recovery with as little of pain as possible! We will then go back for a 2-3 week follow-up and then also a 2 month follow-up. Dr. Saito, who is the general surgeon that will be placing the feeding tube, says that it should take 2 months for the area around the feeding tube to heal completely. But Emmalin should be able to take baths again in a couple of weeks. They also say that Emmalin can start rolling around on her tummy again as soon as she feels like it. I am going to have an ace bandage there to wrap around the g-tube to make sure it doesn't get pulled out somehow. We will find out the time of the surgery on Friday (at some point) and I will post it then. Please pray for our baby girl as she starts this new journey with a feeding tube. I know it is the right thing for Emmalin at this time and pray that it will help her in more ways than what I can imagine!

God is Good!