BYE BYE HERNIAS!

I'm getting ready to go to bed... we have a big day tomorrow and after talking to the surgeons tonight I now know that they feel like they have a big day ahead of them as well! Dr. Molitor, (a Primary Children's bowel surgeon), said that he has never seen hernia's like this before ever on a baby! SCARY!!! But he is confident that they will be able to fix these but we wont know the extent of the damage until they get him opened up and check it out. 


Some of the things they are worried about, first and foremost...


1. How are his lungs going to react to this surgery


2. How will his pulmonary hypertension react, and will his heart be able to handle it. 


3. Will the Hernia's be fixed forever after this. 


4. One of the things I am most worried about, and the Dr. confirmed my worries tonight, is how has his reproductive system been affected by this? Well Jake's Dr. was very honest by saying they were not sure if this has caused problems but that there is a very big chance that his testicles are not in the right spot and may have been extremely damaged in the process of these hernia's growth. He was pretty honest when he said there is a good chance he WILL have reproductive problems. I know this is not the end of the world and there are ways around this but I hope for his case that everything is in tact. 


5. The incision for the Silo bag will go across the tummy and will leave quite a scar, but mostly it will affect the inner muscles and there are worries about how his stomach muscles will handle this. Jake may require a few post surgery operations to go in and repair the areas that have to be sutured up with mesh and plastic materials. But the Dr.'s are confident that they wont be a big deal and 2 of the post-op surgeries can be done in the next 3 weeks, so before he ever leaves the NICU so that is good. 


6. Will he be able to get a G Tube (gastrointestinal feeding tube)? I HOPE I HOPE I HOPE!!! This means he might come home earlier with the G-tube in and I would be able to teach Jake how to bottle feed at home and then fill his tummy up with milk through the tube. They will not let me bring him home with the tube down his throat but I could if it is sticking out of his tummy (weird huh?) But I really hope this works out. 


I have a big day tomorrow, Rory did not feel comfortable asking for the 4th day of work off, so I will be going alone in the morning but Rory did ask for back to School night off (I was proud of him for that cuz he was nervous), so he should be there with me when Jake comes out of surgery. I'm kind of nervous! But mostly excited for this chapter to be over!


I have pictures of these hernias if anyone is interested. I do not feel comfortable posting them online because they are really quite disturbing to see, but if anyone is interested send me a text or email and I can email the pic to you. 


If you can say a special prayer for Jakey tomorrow. And throw my name in there at some point. I know all the prayers have been crucial for our family through this but mostly for Jake.