Surgery recovery update #5

Guess what I did today...wow, you are so smart...I DID visit Summer :) I took Morgan with me again today and my mom came too. Morgan was supposed to go the playroom with a volunteer...when we got there we were told she just found out there isn't anyone available on Fridays. Morgan had been very grouchy all the way to the hospital, I was looking forward to getting her to the playroom to cheer her up so dreaded trying to keep her happy while we visited. It was a good thing Grandma came along :) My mom held Summer for a few minutes and Morgan asked if she could hold baby Supber. I sat in the chair, Morgan sat on my lap and Summer sat on Morgan's lap. We took some pictures and when Morgan was done, she climbed down. I got to hold Summer for a while longer and Morgan sat with Grandma drawing pictures...she was very happy and content.

The 3 Cameron girls...Morgan really loved holding Summer :)

Morgan kisses her sad little sister

During our visit a surgeon came in to talk. She explained what has been happening. Summer got the infection because of a hole that developed at the connection site on her intestines. Apparently they had reopened the incision because they noticed she had been leaking stool through the incision in one end that had opened on its own. The surgical team will be watching her closely for the next four to six weeks hoping that the hole will close on its own and she doesn't have any remaining stool that pools in a pocket and it drains. If at any time Summer gets sick again or any other complications arises, they will be forced to repeat the operation. This is definitely a drawback...each time they do a resection, they have to remove more intestine...not something we want to happen! As long as she is dealing with this problem she will be strictly on TPN. I asked if this would prevent her coming home...she said Summer may still be TPN 24/7. We are going to have to experience that anyway, so if possible I would opt to have her come home...we are going on 2 months at the hospital! The surgeons are pleased with how well she is doing at the moment, so maybe that can continue...going in a positive direction is definitely what we hope for...

After taking my mom home, I picked up the boys from school and took them to our favorite beach park. It has finally gotten warm enough for the beach, just in time for Fall...typical Seattle weather! Angie and her kids met us there again...check out the cute little girls...true "Beach bums"!

Sadie doesn't like getting very sandy, and yet, here she is :)

Sadie and Morgan coating themselves with sand

Sugery recovery update #4

Summer is still continuing to get better! I went to visit Wednesday and she had been weaned some more on the vent…By the time I left, she was at 26% and was starting to really breathe on her own. She started opening her eyes and had her 2nd eye exam. Her eyes have not changed…they still look great J She is now between stage 2-3 of 3 stages…the peripheral vision. I decided to give Morgan a break from babysitters and she came with me. I was a little worried about how she would do, but she did pretty well…thanks to 2 cartons of chocolate milk! Morgan loves to talk about going to see “baby Supber” all the time. By the time we got there, she told me she didn’t want to see “Supber” after all, but was very excited by the big giraffes in the lobby, outside, on the roof of the building, etc.

You can see how much her swelling has gone down around her neck...the rest is mainly her own naurally grown double chin...and it looks like we have a thumb sucker on our hands!

I went again today, Sept. 11th. Summer has been weaned down to 24% oxygen and should have the breathing tube taken out today! Yeah! J Her Hydro cortisone has been reduced to once every 24 hours and no longer receive any dopamine (for her blood pressure). The only concern at this point is her incision…it is open and oozing a little. Her nurse is fairly confident it will heal up nicely lets hope she is right! She is also showing some signs of jaundice from the TPN and lack of food. Hopefully she will be ready to eaten through her feeding tube very soon…her intestines will start processing the food (hopefully breast milk) which will reduce the jaundice. The nurse told me Summer was passing gas today, so thought she would be able to use the intestines as soon as she is infection free, yeah!