Watch me perambulate!

Discharge! Garrett's blood work and energy improved and his pain decreased enough to come home!

He will be on several oral antibiotics for an extended period of time and continue on immunosuppressants. In the next few weeks, he will get a repeat MRI to assess how the abscesses are doing and continue to follow up with his outpatient GI team.

He's very tired and will probably spend the next few days resting to get ready for back to school.

But he's happy to be home! And so are we!

Garrett leaving CHOP. No wheelchair needed.

He said, "Watch me perambulate, yo!"

Stephen and Garrett surprised us at home. Garrett rang the doorbell and Gibson was sooo excited to see them. I was just happy they got home safely after the heavy rain, flooding and road closures!

Comments

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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