Feed Tube Replacement, Take Two
Around noon Saturday, I went to feed Smiley and as I unsnapped his onesie and pulled it up, out came the feeding tube onto to floor.
Since I wasn't gonna let Dr. Asshole change it, we drove to my hometown, 2 hours away to get it changed and hopefully get established with a new surgeon.
To make a long story short, here's the summary:
We made a bad decision choosing a hospital ER to go to so we spent nearly 8 hours in the emergency room waiting to have his feeding tube changed. They put a smaller tube of some sort to hold the whole open, so poor Smiley kept getting bumped back to the end of the line.
We arrived at 2pm, and by 9pm, Smiley's tube had been changed, but do I get to finally go home..of course not! The ER doctor ordered a dye X-ray to make sure the tube was placed right. Of course they weren't in a hurry. Nearly in tears(after an 7 hour wait and 2 hour drive before that to get here) I told the nurse we'd like to leave because we didn't think it was necessary. Doctor wouldn't release us, so I was stuck there another hour while they dragged ass getting the X-ray done! If he was my legal child, I would have walked out, but being my foster child, I was stuck!
What pisses me off more than anything is that, the Dr. Asshole who changed his tube last time, could have scheduled an office visit to follow up and change it after a few months but he refused. He told us we would have to go to the ER when it was time to change it, so he could make us wait, of course. Well, he got his way! We had to wait..but not on him!
Why didn't I find another surgeon? Just like with Princess, surgeons won't follow other surgeon's work, so the only way to change surgeon's is to wait for the tube to break and go to the ER.
They did give me a referral for a surgeon to follow up with. I asked if he would see us. The nurse just told us to tell them we were referred from the ER. We'll see. I have a feeling they still won't see us. Poor Smiley.
And to think, L and I were about to go pick up a baby bed for Bubbles and start the process of moving her into her room.
It's always something with poor Smiley. Good thing I love him to death.
Since I wasn't gonna let Dr. Asshole change it, we drove to my hometown, 2 hours away to get it changed and hopefully get established with a new surgeon.
To make a long story short, here's the summary:
We made a bad decision choosing a hospital ER to go to so we spent nearly 8 hours in the emergency room waiting to have his feeding tube changed. They put a smaller tube of some sort to hold the whole open, so poor Smiley kept getting bumped back to the end of the line.
We arrived at 2pm, and by 9pm, Smiley's tube had been changed, but do I get to finally go home..of course not! The ER doctor ordered a dye X-ray to make sure the tube was placed right. Of course they weren't in a hurry. Nearly in tears(after an 7 hour wait and 2 hour drive before that to get here) I told the nurse we'd like to leave because we didn't think it was necessary. Doctor wouldn't release us, so I was stuck there another hour while they dragged ass getting the X-ray done! If he was my legal child, I would have walked out, but being my foster child, I was stuck!
What pisses me off more than anything is that, the Dr. Asshole who changed his tube last time, could have scheduled an office visit to follow up and change it after a few months but he refused. He told us we would have to go to the ER when it was time to change it, so he could make us wait, of course. Well, he got his way! We had to wait..but not on him!
Why didn't I find another surgeon? Just like with Princess, surgeons won't follow other surgeon's work, so the only way to change surgeon's is to wait for the tube to break and go to the ER.
They did give me a referral for a surgeon to follow up with. I asked if he would see us. The nurse just told us to tell them we were referred from the ER. We'll see. I have a feeling they still won't see us. Poor Smiley.
And to think, L and I were about to go pick up a baby bed for Bubbles and start the process of moving her into her room.
It's always something with poor Smiley. Good thing I love him to death.
posted by Lisa @ 6:58 PM
7 Comments:
At 10:11 PM,
JUST A MOM said…
POOR baby,, and you! I hated trying to get things done the RIGHT/MY way. We/you live with the babies and they think THEY know what is easier or best. I remember tryign to get one of our baby boys winky fixed took forever!!!!!! good luck.
ANd bubbles in her own room is way over rated anyway.
At 11:13 PM,
Awesome Mom said…
You do know that you can replace them yourself with no visit to the ER needed. He has a MICKEY if a remember correctly. All you have to do is deflate the balloon put some KY jelly (or any other water based lubricant) on the tip, jam it in, refill the balloon and you are back in business. I had to do it several times. It looks gross but it saves a whole lot of time to do it yourself. If you are worried about placement then all you have to do is hook up the extension and hook a syringe to it. if you pull back and get stomach contents then you are in the right stop.
At 6:08 AM,
Lisa said…
Awesome mom,
That's what I thought, but I was advised against trying it by several nurses and medical people.
At 11:13 AM,
Julie said…
I am sorry you had to go through this- I am glad he got a new one- what do you do when it falls out? that sounds kinda gross- your a champ!
At 7:18 PM,
Awesome Mom said…
Well they are just out for the money then. I was taught how to do it by the GI doctor. She encourages all of the parents to learn how to do it themselves as it saves the parents a lot of needless trips to the doctors.
At 8:07 PM,
Overwhelmed! said…
Hi there! It's good to see more of you through your blog. I'm glad you shared this with me. :)
I didn't realize that your FS was a medically fragile son. The poor little guy!
I hope the adoption of your little guy goes well and that you get to keep Bubbles. :)
At 5:00 AM,
Ken & Jordan Lukens said…
He is the luckiest little boy because you love him so much. I wonder if he would have even have made this much progress if he had been left with his biomom. I'm sorry that this is so hard sometimes. You really deserve to catch a break. I am praying for you and yours.
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