Friday, August 31, 2012

August 30th, 2012

Blake had his drain removed yesterday morning. The surgeon came in and literally plucked it right out of his abdomen. Poor blake was in a dead sleep and was completely startled by the removal. It took him a good 30-45 minutes for his vitals to finally settle down. The drain had been making its way out on its own anyway so there really wasn't much left of the tube in his belly, but still. Poor guy didn't see it coming.

All this medical jibber jabber doesn't always sink in and make sense to me. Sometimes I feel like the more questions I ask, the more confused I get. I feel like the last few days, I've been asking the same questions, but rephrasing them so that I finally get the answer or explanation that I understand. Today I had one of those light bulb moments where the confusing part I didn't quite understand finally clicked.

I knew that the drain, or 'penrose', drained fluids and other gunk like blood and stool that had worked its way into his abdomen. What I did NOT understand is why they wanted to pull the Penrose out if there was still drainage leaking out. I thought the drainage would cause infection if it remained inside his belly. Well, I'm glad to finally learn that isn't the case and I can stop stressing. The doctor informed me that the little bit of left over drainage that would be in his belly is sterile so it will actually reabsorb into his body. The penrose drain was simply for the purpose of relieving the pressure that the perf in his intestines caused when they leaked the stool. Now that the majority of all the gunk is out, its safe to pull the drain. I'm so glad I finally worded my question the right way because now I finally get it!

Other than his vitals going crazy after the Penrose drain was removed, he had another great day. He received the last of his antibiotics last night and they are now looking at starting feedings again either Saturday or Sunday. And from there, its another waiting game to see how his body reacts to the feedings. It could take several days to see if this whole fiasco happens again, or HOPEFULLY all is well and healed and we can move forward with his progress. He's been such a little trooper in all this!

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