The Saga Continues...

We've been discussing the idea of having the fundo-plication surgery done for a few months now, and after our first visit with the surgeon I felt like it was going to be something we could avoid. Well, this past week was our follow up appointment with the surgeon, and after waiting in a freezing cold waiting room with my three boys(Brynn was at a friend's house) for just under three hours, we finally met with the doc and received less than great news. The lump in Maddox's chest is in fact a solid mass-not good-and needs to come out...SOON. Dr. Bass said that 80% chance it was benign(not cancerous), and 20% chance it was malignant(cancerous). Great. Cancer. Okay.

So it is fairly urgent that the lump be removed. Unfortunately, due to all the reflux, Maddox is having a significantly difficult time breathing. He is on oxygen regularly and getting breathing treatments daily and wheezing frequently. The anesthesiologists won't even think about putting him under for surgery with him breathing like he is. Back to the fundo-this surgery is meant to treat severe reflux, and now that Maddox's reflux is affecting his breathing it seems very necessary. So, he needs the surgery to help with his breathing, and he can't get surgery because of his breathing. Yeah. It's a problem.

The plan is to see GI and Pulmonary doctors and try to medically manage the reflux by trying one more medication(the new med Maddox got a few weeks ago isn't doing much) and get his breathing under control so that surgery is possible. Unfortunately Dr. Bass(surgeon) is moving to NY the end of August. She is the most skilled in her practice at doing laproscopic procedures(using small incisions to perform the operation) and even she couldn't guarantee that the fundo on Maddox was possible without opening him up completely. This could result in Maddox spending several weeks in the hospital. Since Maddox already has a g-tube, it may not be possible to wrap the stomach around the esophagus and keep his existing g-tube site. So, that hole may need to be repaired and stitched up and a new g-tube placed. This can cause a real mess. The stomach will be pulled several different directions and may not hold in all of them. His previous g-tube site could leak stomach contents, his wrap(fundo) could either be too tight or too loose, and could result in the surgery failing to do what it is meant to do. The surgeon said Maddox could spend some time in the ICU post surgery due to him being a very complicated patient. Not to mention the strain that undergoing surgery can put on his heart and lungs. And it is likely that Dr. Bass won't even be the doctor who ends up operating.

So that's what is new at our house. On a positive note, if the surgery is successful at doing what it is supposed to do, it could make a big difference to Maddox and our whole family's current quality of life. We are praying to know what to do and that the doctors involved in Maddox's care will be inspired. It is interesting to note that a few months ago when Maddox was vomiting so frequently, his pediatrician was very strongly recommending that he get the fundo. I was dead set against it. We prayed specifically about the vomiting, and over night it stopped. It stopped for a good two months. Maddox gained weight and strength and was in much less pain those two months. Now, despite Maddox again throwing up and being in pain, he is bigger and stronger and in a better place to handle this operation if he needs it. I would still love to avoid it and just manage the reflux with medication, but part of me feels like it will be a good thing in the long run, and also that Heavenly Father is again preserving Maddox and very much a part of this experience and the timing of things. I wish His timing didn't correspond with school starting for the second year in a row, but things will work out. Regardless of whether or not Mad ends up getting the fundo-plication, the lump in his chest still must be surgically removed. And if he is going to go under the knife we might as well do as much as needs to be done.

Keep praying for this little fighter of mine. He is definitely making life interesting.