Sorry to be MIA for the past week. Patrick had been projectile vomiting since he was a little over a week old (sorry didn't tell you all, didn't really tell anyone except doctor and grandparents, unless of course he "Exorcists" someone, LOL)
He was progressively getting worse and not too long after all formula options were tried, he developed a knot on his stomach, (last week), and we found out that he had Pyloric Stenosis. It is basically where the Pyloris (the muscle between the stomach and small intestine that empties the stomach) contracts and doesn't relax, eventually getting bigger, the opening getting smaller and leading to nothing passing through the intestines. When this happens, if the food can't get out there, it comes back up. After a while, of course the baby begins to loose weight, and in old days, died. Most kids lose around 3-4 pounds before it's discovered, Patrick had only lost 1! PTL, we were lucky.

We went for an Ultra sound on Tuesday and we were sent straight to the children's hospital in our nearest metro town, as we don't have pediatric surgeons here. His surgery was on Wednesday morning, and we came home today.

We were supose to come home yesterday, but Patrick wasn't keeping anything down, so they changed him to the Alimentum (which is what the others had to take, too, so we kinda were expecting it, as Protein Allergy is genetic) and he's doing great.

His incision was around his belly button so it will have minimul scarring.

We also found out that he has a VERY hypersensitive gag reflex, so we're working with an occupational therapist for that. But it's going well, too.

Just wanted to let you all know what's been going on and that we haven't fallen off the earth.

-Kana

Glad you discovered the problem and the surgery went well! Praise the Lord. Thanks for filling us in! Will keep praying for complete healing and to continue to do well on his new formula! :)

Oh Kana, my Courtney had pyloric stenosis and had surgery at seven weeks old. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Did you mention here before that he was projectile puking? I thought I remembered someone posting that. Three of my four had acid reflux that caused major spitting up and sometimes even vomiting, but it's still not at all like pyloric stenosis. Courtney would puke so hard that the puke wouldn't hit the floor for several feet ahead of her, or over my shoulder. I hear people refer to their spitting up babies as projectile vomiting and I think, "until baby has a blockage, you haven't seen projectile vomiting." :lol: Reminds me of a fire hose. :lol: So glad they discovered the problem with your Patrick. Our pediatrician wouldn't take me seriously for weeks. Kept thinking I was over reacting to spitting up. Please, not after two kids with acid reflux. This was totally different. :D Oh, and Courtney's incision is in her belly button as well. I can't even find the scar.

Wow, life should get a whole lot easier now that Patrick will be able to eat and keep his food down. Did he act really hungry all the time, or did he not want to eat at all? I hear both are common. Courtney never wanted to eat. Never. Never even woke up once in the middle of the night to eat from the time she was born. She started getting hungry after the surgery.

Well, I'm glad you were able to check in, and especially happy that Patrick's doctor figured out what was happeing with your sweet little one. It can be so disconcerting when you know something's wrong but you don't know exactly what it is.

God bless baby Patrick!! [prayer]

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Joy [welcomewave]

Oh my goodenss Kana what an ordeal. Prayers for your family. Sounds like Patrick may be on the mend, great job mom for catching things when you did. And Joy how frustrating doctors didn't believe you.

Please keep us posted on Patrick, poor little guy. Hope you guys can settle into a routine now you probably feel really rung out right about now.

Hugs,

Thanks for the prayers everyone. They are soooo appreciated.

Joy, you are NOT kidding. Bri, our middle, had severe reflux and we thought we had it bad then.

Patrick didn't eat that much, like most babies wake every two hours or so, he would go five or six, sometimes longer. I would feed him at like nine or ten and he would go to sleep, wake up about fifteen minutes to an hour later, puke, then go back to sleep until seven the next morning!

The week leading up to his surgery, he only used about 1/3 of one of HUGE 25 oz. powder cans of formula! the week before that, we were on a differnt formula, and I had one of the regular size cans and he only used a little under half of it.
Since the surgery, he's eating about every three hours, and only taking two ounces, sometimes 3.

OH! the doctor that done his surgery, is Dr. Michael Gauderer. He's traveled worldwide, and is listed as one of the best Pediatric Surgeons in the Nation! He was the co-developer of the PEG feeding tube (the one Terry Siavo had) and has developed quite a few procedure techniques and medical devices that he's patented. So we knew going in that even though it was a "minor/common" surgery, he had one of the best!

I'm not bragging, by no means, I'm saying this in a PTL type way, he was NOT supose to be the one to do it! the doc that was supose to has only been a ped. surgeon for about five years!

Sounds like a very stressful time for all of you! But thank-you for checking in and letting us know what has been going on!
I hope your little Patrick continues to get better :)

Glad all went well with the surgery. Will be praying for quick healing.

That must have been a bit of a shock to the system!

I am glad the issue was discovered and sorted out however, sounds really serious! Praise God for modern technology!

Hope things begin looking up from here on in.

PTL, Kana! :D It's wonderful how the Lord saw to it you had the very best surgeon for little Patrick. I'm glad he's doing better now. I remember those days like it was yesterday... wondering why it was so hard to get even an ounce of milk into Courtney. Then, after working all day to get only about six ounces in her, she'd thow it all up. It was obvious something was wrong. She's great now, though. Thank you, Lord! [claphigh]

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Joy [welcomewave]

Kana, I'm sorry to hear about your little one, but I'm really glad that he's doing better! That's awesome news about the surgeon! God is good isn't He?!