This is a blog for my daughter Scarlett. She was born with a complex congenital heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia. She is my little hero.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Feeding Tube :(



This morning right after my last blog post, Scarlett threw up again so Dr. Lane told Claude to go ahead and put a NG (nasal-gastric) feeding tube down Scarlett's nose in order to administer medication since she keeps throwing up. : (  I was heartbroken and I started crying. She was crying (as best as she could with 5% of her voice) and struggling when they held her down to put it in. I have to admit I was depressed about it. She was doing so well up until the barfing episodes. But there were just too many of them (barfing incidents) and she needs her oral medications.

We haven't actually 'fed' her through the tube quite yet, just medicines. We're gonna continue to try to feed her by mouth what she can tolerate. This morning around 9ish I was able to hold her and I tried feeding her another 1 ounce bottle (30cc's). She drank about 10cc's and started to gag, but didn't barf.  I tried again, she drank about 5 cc's more...gagged again but didn't barf. Then she rested for a minute or two.... then SPEWED again. All over her, me, the floor. But this time it wasn't as dramatic as last night.  It was only about 1 or 2 ounces, last night it was more like 4-5 ounces of vomit.

She's resting again after a rough morning. We're gonna try to feed her litte bit by little bit again.

4 comments:

  1. Thinking of the both of you tonight
    Hugs
    Melissa

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  2. Maybe the throwing up is being caused by withdraws from the sedation medications? Mark did that for a couple of days after the Glenn. I'm sorry about the feeding tube...I'm sure she doesn't like that at all! I was hoping to come visit tomorrow, but I've got three sick kids (Mark isn't one of them) so I will have to wait. Hang in there! She looks great!

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  3. ugh..my heart just sank!! I was really rooting for no feeding tube! I'm proabably the biggest hater of that tube there is.. I think it makes them gag and vomit more! She can do it (eat), she just needs time. She's been eating up until now, her body is just getting back to normal. Like molly said, the puking could be from so many things, like withdrawals.. Hopefully when she starts feeling better and better she'll keep more down. My advice would be to do whatever it takes to get that out asap!! She won't have it long, I'm sure. when she's feeling normal again, she'll eat normal again. She's only a few days post op!!
    She's doing great! Hang in there..
    Avery

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  4. That stinks! Sorry to hear that...but just think you can go home with an NG and not so much with an IV! At least she's on oral meds.. the feeding can work itself out at home! You know she can eat and Im sure will do much better in the comfort of her own home. Even better if they can get it out beforehand. Is she off oxygen now too? Glad they finally got that sticker off her forehead! I always hated that thing partially because it never worked right!!!! Take Care!

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