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Monday, February 2, 2009

Update on Ella's scope


Before procedure...hasn't eaten in 6 hrs but just as happy as can be...I don't get it!

In recovery, what a sweet baby!

Thank you all for your prayers for Ella today. Her scope procedure went very well and the actual procedure itself was very quick. It was the waiting before and after that took so long so it has been a long day for us but we are just thankful to hopefully be on the right track with getting Ella some help. So far from what they could see her esophagus, small intestines and stomach look good and healthy. The doctor did say though that her esophagus looked leathery and irritated probably from all of the spitting up that she does and her stomach is quite small. She said it looked healthy but was just very small. That was pretty much all the information we got as far as visual results from the scope. They took biopsies from her stomach, esophagus and small intestines as well and I think those results will be much more informative and help identify problems as far as damage, certain allergies, etc. are concerned. We will not get those results for another week. Overall, we are very thankful that things went smoothly today and that so far there is nothing hugely significant that was wrong. However, we are hoping that the biopsies and pH probe will give us more information as to what could be causing Ella's feeding problems.

Ella came home today with the pH probe and she will have it until tomorrow morning. This test is to check and measure for acid reflux. She has a tube down her nose that goes to her stomach and we have to chart every time we feed her, what we feed her and how long, when she coughs, cries, is restless, is irritable, when she spits up, when she sleeps, how she sleeps, when she wakes up and on and on. We will do this until tomorrow morning so it will be a long night. :) We also have to alternate feeding her juice and milk every other feeding so we have to change out all of that in her feeding tube every three hours so that is kind of brutal. Okay, not kind of brutal, very brutal but hey if all of this will tell us anything about how to help her we will do it! Poor thing has to wear arm immobilizers too throughout all of this so she can't bend her arms to pull out the tube. We will pull her tube out in the morning and return all of our charting to the hospital and we will get those results in a week when we get the biopsies. Sweet Ella, she is such a trooper!

That is about all I've got so far. We will definitely update once we get more results in. Please continue to pray that we will get some clear answers from these tests. Oh, by the way, in my last post I said that this Wednesday Ella had an Upper GI prcedure scheduled and a follow up appt. on Friday but both of those have been canceled and rescheduled as of today. The Upper GI procedure cannot be done within five days of a scope so she will have that next Wednesday, Feb. 11th instead. So next week she will have several appointments so we'll update on that when we know more. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we definitely feel it and we are so thankful for all of you. Good night, I'm off to do some charting!

11 comments:

Chesley said...

She is just BEAUTIFUL!!! I can't wait to get my hands on her!
I am sooooo glad today went well and 6 hours without eating...I wish I could do that. I might loose a pound or 10! :)
Your charting reminds me of the reading portion of the TPRI. Your story will just be a little longer. :)
Hugs!

Anonymous said...

Sweet Ella, she is so precious, what a baby doll with that smile on her face, she sure is a trooper. I am very glad things went well yesterday and I hope your night last night was not too brutal. I am thinking of all of you today and praying for answers and good results for that beautiful Ella. Hugs and kisses to all of you, I love you.

Courtney said...

We are praying and praying!!! We so wish there was some way to take the load off of you guys and Ella for just a little while and give you a break! I hope these answers bring relief. We miss y'all so much! Love you guys!

Jamie Ridgell said...

I'm so glad yesterday went smoothly and that Ella did so well. Loved the pictures - she is just adorable. love you!

Jennifer said...

Seriously, Amy, she's gorgeous. Wanted you to know I'm still praying. Sure do love you and your sweet family.

The Speck family said...

Ella is SUCH a beautiful little angel~ I just want to kiss that little face of hers. I am praying that the pH probe goes well and I am so thankful that the scope went well....hopefully those docs will be able to figure out why eating is so not fun for her. I think about you ALL the time....and I would be pulling my hair out if I had to change the tube feeds every 3 hours with milk and juice~ you guys deserve a major award. One day we WILL vacation together and share all these wild stories of our lives together face to face :). Much love to the Carders!!! Kelly

Jodi said...

Seriously, you guys make gorgeous girls.

Ok, so my computer has been busted and I've been off line, so I missed all this!!! But I am thanking God RIGHT NOW for how everything went, and praying for your sanity through all the charting, and praying for great and CLEAR results through all her tests, and just praying PERIOD. She is a trooper, of course, but you guys are AMAZING. Keep up the wonderful work, and know you are prayed over like crazy! You inspire me to be a more patient and loving Mommy. :) I'll be doing a better job keeping up with Ella's latest!

Unknown said...

Amy,
I marvel at your strength, faith and fortitude. Thank you for sharing Ella's story with us. I pray for you and your family daily. Can't keep you off of my heart.

Too funny, the post from Chesley...just like TPRI reporting.

We love you.

Suzie

LYN said...

I know God is in control. He blessed Ella with such a wonderful family. Still praying so often for you all. Love, LYN

Amanda Pittman said...

Amy and Rick -
Ella is absolutely beautiful and in that picture looks like she doesn't have a care in the world! Offering prayers of praise that she handled all those invasive procedures like a trooper. It sounds like there won't be much that Eva could ever do to Ella that would bother her more! Wanted you to know I watched "24" for the first time ever last week and I thought of you guys and laughed at "going dark". I like annoying people by saying "copy that" now whenever anyone tells me something. I have found it especially useful when praying popcorn style prayers in small group.

Love from Abilene -
Amanda

Brenda said...

I was sad to hear that Ella continued to have feeding issues after she left the NICU here. I am hopeful, though, that you will finally been able to get the answers and followup she needs. You are all such a lovely family and Ella is so precious. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers.