Surgery Day -- some pictures

Here are some pictures from today. We arrived at the hospital around 6:45 AM to spend a little awake time with James before he had to go to surgery (1st picture). The shift change occurs at 7 AM so the day nurse was on duty when James was wheeled down to the operating room (the middle photo). Mel went downstairs with James while Mike watched Matthew. Mel was back to the 4th floor (the NICU) shortly afterwards because (for obvious reasons) visitors aren't allowed in the OR . It was early afternoon before James return -- 1:30 pm, almost 6 hours after he left the NICU. He wasn't in surgery the entire time, but we estimate he was in the operating room for about 5 hours. James' vital signs throughout the operation were fine and he seems to be recovering on schedule. The evening nurse said he appears to be in some pain so she is requesting additional pain medication. Pain managment is an important priority for James this weekend. Once he is feeling better and his pain medications are reduced he will be extubated (the breathing tube is removed), probably Monday or late Sunday.














We are only beginning to learn about the impact of removing the colon, but the short story is that a person can function just fine without a colon. The colon mainly absorbs water from the stool -- nutrients are absorbed in the small intestines so removing the colon shouldn't affect his growth or development. The main effect (as far as I know right now) is that people without colons have more frequent bowel movements (4-6 per day), stools that are runnier than otherwise, and occasional problem with electrolyte balances. Of course, infants poop all the time so we may not notice a difference until he is older, and we are sure to learn that newborms respond differently than adults. For instance, we have no idea yet how this will affect toilet training.

(Details: After the pull-through surgery to reconnect his intestines, 90 percent of the children pass stool normally. Some might have diarrhea for a while, but eventually the stool will become more solid and the child will need to go to the bathroom less often. Babies might develop a diaper rash from the diarrhea. Toilet training might be delayed since the child learns how to use the bottom muscles only after pull-through surgery. Older children might have accidents for a while after the surgery, but this will improve with time.