Gastroenterologist – Superman Sam's Survival Kit

Starting Feeds

Published on January 13, 2023January 13, 2023 by Jamie Grant8 Comments

Besides his meds and water, Sam has not had anything in his stomach for over two months. I think it’s safe to say, his gut has had rest. We are going to introduce feeds into his g-tube (feeding tube) very soon. It will be a very, very small amount, and we will slowly add more as he tolerates it. We are nervous and excited.

Sam has otherwise been doing great! “Eating” through his bloodstream doesn’t seem to phase him much. He’s not in school yet, but he’s been able to go to occupational therapy and speech comes to our house once a week. He keeps himself busy organizing and being on his IPad more than he probably should be.

PICC line dressing changes are getting easier each week. He seems to fight less and knows the worst part is when his infusion nurse has to take off the old dressing. Getting his TPN (nutrition) started has become a part of our evening routine and it feels normal. I will be happy though when the PICC line is gone. It’s not the fastest process in the world and let’s face it, not normal.

Please pray Sam tolerates his feeds and he will not need the surgery his surgeon talked about before Christmas.

I hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I know I got my Christmas wish and very thankful for it.

Sam Strong

Faith Over Fear

Procedures Update

Published on December 2, 2022 by Jamie Grant1 Comment

The excitement of breaking out of jail made me forget to update on the procedures Sam had while he was still in the hospital. Obviously, from the last post, he recovered very well.

His GI doctor dilated two different areas of his esophagus. Because Sam’s esophagus is not attached to his stomach, it’s been hard to scope the inside of his tummy. She was able to take his feeding tube out, and although it wasn’t easy, she got the scope through, and was able to take a look. Not surprisingly, his tummy looked rough. She took biopsies. We are still waiting on the results, but generally, no news is good news. Probably too much information, but she also scoped his rectum and everything looked good down under.

His ENT gave the GOOD NEWS that his laryngeal cleft is still repaired and his airway looks good. Or best news. We are on track to work on decanulation (getting his trach out) in the the Spring!!!!!

We are settling at home with a PICC line. Sam is doing great, but his poor skin is a mess. We discovered he’s allergic to the dressing. They are now doing dressing changes every two to three days, instead of weekly, and prescribed him a topical steroid.

The more frequent dressing changes are a drag because three of us have to pin him down for a good ten to fifteen minutes to keep his arm still and sterile. Sam might be a little guy, but he is very strong and flexible. I think the scariest part of a PICC is the the importance of keeping it sterile. The risk of infection is low, if you’re doing all the right things, but a bloodstream infection is serious.

Thankfully, I am much more comfortable with all things PICC line, except for the major frustration of getting air out of his TPN (nutrition) infusion before I hook him up at night. Air in the bloodstream, not good. I’m not one to use curse words very often, but they’ve been slipping out this past week more than I would like to admit. The infusion nurse told me, in time, I will get it. Hopefully by that time, he won’t need the PICC anymore!

The plan is to give his gut another week of rest and then talk to his GI doctor about possibility trying feedings again.

Continued prayers for no PICC line complications and patience for me with starting Sam’s infusions.

Faith Over Fear

Sam Strong

He Made It

Published on November 7, 2022 by Jamie Grant13 Comments

It was a rough weekend, but he made it. He’s been needing some oxygen support, but we still have room to go up. Nice job, my little warrior.

Now, prayers for his procedure today! Pray for the doctor involved. She knows Sam, but is not his primary GI doctor, which isn’t unusual for Sam when he is having a dilation. Pray for the anesthesiologist and the rest of the team who will care for Sam. Pray for no complications and that we’ll be able to come home today. Pray there is an easy fix and nothing else is going on. Pray for peace and continued strength for all of us.

Faith Over Fear

Sam Strong

Prayers to Stay Home

Published on November 6, 2022 by Jamie Grant8 Comments

They were able to schedule Sam’s next procedure with his GI doctor, surgeon, and ENT for November 21st. Unfortunately, his little esophagus is seeming like it won’t wait that long.

After this last hospital stay, Sam’s respiratory doctor agreed it would be a good idea to keep him out of school until his next procedure. I get it. As much as I want Sam in school, I think the risks outweigh the benefits at the moment. We don’t need anything else on top of what’s going on medically.

Sam is really miserable right now, but we are home. His symptoms are indicating he needs another dilation. Hopefully, that’s all it is.

We called the weekend, on call GI doctor. Thankfully, instead of telling us to take him to the emergency room, she got him on the surgery schedule for Monday morning. I cannot tell you how happy I was about that. My heart was really dreading another hospital stay.

For whatever reason when Sam needs a dilation, he doesn’t tolerate his feeds. We are running Pedialyte at the lowest rate possible to hopefully keep him hydrated enough until Monday morning and avoid a hospital stay.

Please pray Sam will tolerate the Pedialyte and be able to stay home until Monday. Pray there is nothing else going on. This poor little boy could really catch a break.

Prayers for our stamina as we are tired. This fall has been hard. Prayers to calm our hearts as questions and concerns are hard to push aside right now.

I’m thankful to believe in a God who loves my little boy even more than I do, and that He will comfort and sustain all of us.

Faith Over Fear

Sam Strong

Home

Published on October 24, 2022 by Jamie Grant8 Comments

We are home and very happy to be here. What we thought would only be one night, turned into five nights. And of course, as a few of Sam’s doctors mentioned, he threw a curve ball.

Although we know what to expect, you don’t get use to hospital stays. More importantly, Sam is feeling much better. The older Sam gets, the harder it gets to be in the hospital, and all the more excited he gets when we come home.

We are now hoping he can make it two to four weeks for another esophageal dilation. His GI doctor wants Sam’s surgeon to be there, and Sam’s ENT plans to do a bronchoscopy. If you know anything about the medical world, scheduling three doctors at one time for a procedure is not an easy task. Prayers they can land on a time within the next two to three weeks. We do not want to be in the same situation we were in last week.

Thank you, thank you for all your prayers! They were definitely felt and answered.

Sam Strong

Faith Over Fear

An Answer

Published on October 21, 2022 by Jamie Grant4 Comments

Sam’s esophagus was barely open (esophageal stricture). This is nothing new for Sam, but it’s been a very long time since he’s needed a dilation. This is the best fixable answer we could ask for. His GI doctor dilated him and wants to dilate again in two to four weeks. Poor buddy.

Praying now he will tolerate Pedialyte. Generally, when Sam is hospitalized, the doctors want him to be successful on his home feeding regimen before we go home. We move very slow to get there. I was able to convince the docs to let him be successful on Pedialyte and let us work on the formula at home. Anything to give us a few less days in the hospital.

Now Sam just needs to turn the corner so we can get the heck out of dodge!

Thank you for all your prayers! Continued prayers Sam will turn the corner, his blood pressure will come down, and that he will not surprise us with anything else.

Faith Over Fear

Sam Strong

Home Again

Published on April 27, 2022 by Jamie Grant3 Comments

This time, seven days later, we were able to come home. Home sweet home. I was really surprised when the docs rounded that morning and said if things went well during the day, we could go home that evening. Generally, when Sam is inpatient, they make him be successful on formula for at least a day or two before we can go home. He was only on a mixture of half Pedialyte, half formula at this point. They were planning to start full formula later that morning. What?! Do I feel comfortable going home?! Absolutely! Isn’t this why we have home care nursing?!?! Before I knew going home was even on the table, I talked to Sam’s hospital nurse at shift change that morning to let her know I was hoping to leave for a bit to go have an early dinner with my husband and celebrate our anniversary. She assured me they would have someone available to sit with Sam later. We didn’t get to have dinner, but our gift of coming home was far better.

Grateful to a friend for the gift of pressed coffee and heavy cream.

Again, Sam is not back to his normal feeds, but we’ll get there. Poor kid has lost over five pounds in the last month and he doesn’t have any fat to spare!

The prayer now is that the intussusception does not recur. It’s unlikely. We will focus on that. I asked the hospitalist what the threshold to bringing Sam in if he has similar symptoms again. He said, ”very, very low. Intussusception can be very scary…” I’m not sure what he said after that, I only know we better not hesitate if he shows any symptoms. It’s not going to be an issue, so it doesn’t matter.

Because of this second recent hospitalization, more than one of Sam’s docs highly recommended he stay out of school until after his surgery in Cincinnati. Bummer, but I get it. His pulmonologist was planning to have him quarantine two weeks before the surgery, so what’s two more weeks?

As we keep Sam in somewhat of bubble for the next month, pray he doesn’t catch anything. Like his gastroenterologist said, ”Let’s just get him to Cincinnati so he can finally have this surgery!” Agreed!

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for Sam and our family.

Sam Strong!

Faith Over Fear!

Prayers for Today

Published on April 18, 2022 by Jamie Grant2 Comments

Sam is doing great. He hasn’t had a painful episode in two full days. After resting his belly and a heavy dose of steroids, we get to start a very small amount (30 mls an hour) of Pedialyte today! Please pray his intestines will tolerate the Pedialyte.

Living in the hospital is not fun, but we make the best of it.

Easter is one of the only holidays Sam has not spent in the hospital. Sean was in charge of all things Easter this year and he nailed it with the meal and Easter baskets.

I’m SO happy to have all my people here.

As the family was leaving yesterday, Sam started tugging on his IV to try take it off. He knows when the IV comes out, he gets to leave the hospital. Not yet buddy. I’m sorry. If that doesn’t tug at your heart strings, I don’t know what will.

Easter reminds me of hope and new life. I’m incredibly thankful for both.

Sam Strong!

Faith Over Fear!

Rotavirus Again

Published on April 1, 2022 by Jamie Grant3 Comments

Sam’s lab results came back positive for Rotavirus. This is the same little tummy bug, along with a Tracheitis, that put Sam in the hospital for a little over a week last May. It’s nice to have an answer. More often than not, we are playing a guessing game with him. One of the hospitalists, who knows Sam, even jokingly commented on it.

Today was a better day. He’s tolerating a very small amount of Pedialyte. When I say small, I’m talking fifteen milliliters an hour. You know the tiny cups you get when you buy children’s pain meds like Ibuprofen and Tylenol? Picture one of those small med cups only half full. That being said, he still has a ways to go before he can be off the IV fluids and we can get the heck out of Dodge!

Prayers Sam will continue to tolerate his feeds, for his blood pressure to come down, for my other three kids, my hubby, and me.

Faith Over Fear!

Sam Strong!

Eye Surgery Update

Published on February 23, 2022 by Jamie Grant4 Comments

Except for his PTSD when we walked through the second set of double doors, Sam’s eye surgery went well. The genuine kindness and enthusiasm from the many who know him in surgery is definitely helpful. The tummy portion didn’t yield any answers, but we were able to get his feeding tube changed, which is always a bonus to get this done under anesthesia.

After Sam came out of recovery, the anesthesiologist stopped by to check on him. She commented Sam was doing much better than most kids do after this surgery. Yeah, he’s one tough little boy.

He was really miserable the first night, but has been doing really well since. The medical world never ceases to amaze me. It’s so crazy what they can do. We noticed right away, Sam’s right eye is straight!

We got a good laugh the next day when he hopped off the couch after his morning nebs and meds routine, pointed to his eye, shouting “Eye!”, in the funny way he says it, and started running. He often runs circles around our center island in our kitchen. He started his run and kept bouncing off the cupboards. Again, he noticed something was different. We couldn’t help laughing at what looked like a ball in a pinball machine.

One of Sam’s home care nurses said, he’s a reminder that things could be so much worse. He goes through so much and stays so happy all the time. Well said.

Sam Strong