Sadie's first Surgical Consult

Sadie and I had an appointment yesterday to see a surgeon about placing a G-tube. This would mean surgery to cut a hole in the lining of Sadie's stomach and placing a tube there for her to be fed through. It would replace the tube that is currently in her nose. Our reasons for wanting this so quickly are threefold:

1. Upon getting this tube, the results have been so immediate and so positive that we know continuing to feed her this way (while continuing to slowly learn to eat orally) is the best thing for all of us.

2. We have accidentally ripped the tube out of her nose and off of her face more than twice in the 3 weeks she's had it. Also, she has learned to find it and pull on it, which only makes her mad, but she isn't coordinated enough to figure out how to open her hand and let go!! It's kind of funny, and kind of sad.

3. By using a G-tube, as opposed to the NG tube we have now, we can start to blend real foods and give her those instead of just the Pediasure formula we are limited to now. The reason for this is that the G-tube will be larger in diameter and allow for thicker consistencies to be passed through.

Dr. Notrica was very nice and had a lot of positive things to say about Sadie. After a quick examination of her, he exclaimed that she looked "well taken care of." I chuckled and told him that's like what you say about an old car that you're looking to buy! He laughed and told me that they see a lot of children who come in and are dirty or rashy and you can tell their parents just don't take good care of them. He told me that it is obvious that Sadie is well-loved. He also went on to say that she is very pretty, which I always love hearing.

Dr. Notrica didn't seem to think it was a problem to get Sadie scheduled for surgery before we leave to go to Eugene. But, when we went to the scheduling desk, I was told we have to wait for insurance to give approval before we can schedule. Most of the time I am so thankful for insurance, but they are really teaching me patience!! So, now we wait for the call to say it's been approved, let's get her on the schedule!

Here is a video about the Mic-Key button like Sadie will be getting. The first part of this video is very good and shows exactly how it works. After that, you can stop watching.

I also think this mom does a really good job explaining and showing everything.