Please keep little Sweet Pea in your prayers this week because on February 18 she will be undergoing a surgery on her stomach so she can no longer have severe reflux. It is called a ‘nissen fundoplication’ aka a ‘fundo’. The surgeon will wrap part of her stomach around the bottom of her esophagus so nothing can come back up. Unfortunately, it is permanent but some become looser over time. And since she is so small she may or may not need another surgery when she gets older. Since the fundo prevents acid from her coming back, she will not aspirate the acid into her lungs anymore! She will, Lord-willing, no longer have As and Bs! The surgery prevents acid from coming back up but also makes it very difficult to throw up or burp. Therefore, she will also have a g-tube place directly into her stomach. In most cases, a g-tube is put in to feed directly into the stomach. But since the therapy is working so well on her swallow, she may only need the g-tube for venting purposes! We are hopeful she will be able to maximize her oral feeds and minimize feeding through the g-tube.
Although surgery is the last resort we feel like the doctors and feeding teams have tried everything. Reflux is very common in infants, even more so in preemies. Parker just has severe case of it that can’t be fixed clinically. But, we feel very blessed that a surgery may fix Parker’s problem and she does not have an underlying disease or condition, words that have been spoken to us several times. The Lord is sovereign and knew we could handle anything but we are thankful our little one’s issues may be fixed by this time next week!
We are prayerful that Parker will finally come home in a couple more weeks after she recovers from the surgery. She will be 3 months old on this Thursday the 17th and is currently 8 lbs and 5 oz. This precious blessing is indeed a miracle!
We are thankful for each of you and the power of prayer!
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