The morning after surgery

Garrett slept through most of the day yesterday and last night.

He's experiencing a lot of discomfort this morning from the operation, so they've given him pain management medication. He also spiked a fever, but after tylenol and ibuprofin, it has gone away. His surgeon stopped by and doesn't think the fever is something to be concerned about.

Garrett developed a raspy cough overnight and sore throat, due to the intubation. However, that seems to be abating.

The full body rash is very inflamed. The dermatology team thinks the colon was the cause of this massive systemic inflammation, not an infection. So, we're hoping the rashes start to lessen now that his colon has been removed. He let me apply cream to most of it this morning, but it's really bothering him.

Garrett is currently on a light diet today, he's drinking milk and water. He's working on a new Batman Lego that Child Life gave him, and is watching TV.

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Ultrasound and ice cream

Yesterday, Garrett’s right arm and hand began to swell below his central line and there is a significant difference in size between the right and left side. I asked for an ultrasound. The ultrasound was very painful for Garrett. The sores on his body hurt to touch and he has quite a lot of large ones where the ultrasound probe had to be pressed. He screamed through most of the ultrasound prolonging the process. Garrett does have a small clot, but it is not fully occluded. Typically, an anticoagulant would be started, but in a post-op IBD patient, the protocol is not as straightforward. Hematology and surgery are meeting this morning to determine next steps. They want to save the central line in order to provide nutrition for Garrett, but need to determine the best course of action. In the interim, he is on pain medicine for his arm (in addition to his abdomen and skin) as the swelling in his hand has now become significant and very painful. He can’t close his han...

Out of Surgery

Garrett had a successful stoma revision and is in post-op; we're waiting for him to wake up. Speaking with his surgeon, everything went well. It wasn't obvious what caused the small bowel obstruction (ie, adhesion or kink), but his doctor did think the opening in the abdominal wall fascia was tight and food may have obstructed it, leading to an inflamed and swollen bowel. More to come...

Garrett's Home!

Garrett is back home! Though tired, he wanted to try and catch the tail end of the school day at HFS. We thought it better that he just come home; he's already had some pizza and is relaxing in bed playing Roblox by himself. Gibson is not home from school yet, and all Garrett wants to do is play with his brother! Jill and I are happy that our house will be full again tonight. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and support this week!

Updates on Garrett

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