Resting and Waiting. . .

The doctors have decided to rest Matthew's stomach and esophagus for the rest of tonight and inserted a feeding tube directly into his small intestine (called a TPT line). They believe that Matthew's reflux has made his esophagus raw and very sore so they're giving him a medication called Sucralfate that will coat his mucous membranes and sores and provide an additional protective barrier against his stomach acid. Hopefully allowing his throat some time to heal and continuing use of Sucralfate will be all it takes to get him back on track and get him eating again. If not, they'll start more tests. Thankfully he looks good otherwise and they've decided not to start an IV or do blood work at this time. His oxygen saturation has been all over the place due to his discomfort.

We had a bit of a scare this afternoon. When they inserted the feeding tube they took an x-ray that looked as if his stomach was on the wrong side of his body. They took the tube out and reinserted it and the next x-ray looked normal (with one spot being questionable). They will reevaluate this in the morning and decide if he needs further testing. They may call in a Gastroenterologist depending on how he tolerates eating over the next 24 hours.

Please pray for another little girl with the same heart condition as Matthew. Little Laynie had her 2nd surgery last week and is struggling. Her surgeon and pediatric intensivist have been in her room working on her since 2:00 pm and they were still in there when we left at 8:30 tonight. Our hearts sank every time we passed her room and could see the concerned look on everyones faces faces. Being in the PICU is helping us put life in perspective. Everyday we see dozens of children fighting for their lives. It is so easy to take life for granted and forget how precious life really is and what a blessing it is to wake up healthy every morning.

Thank you for your prayers. We will update again as we know more tomorrow.

Love, Craig & Amy