William's Surgery

William had surgery on March 2 to fix what we thought was an esophageal web.  It's kind of a long story.

William being dressed in his hospital gown

When William was about ten days old, he began spitting up a lot and he was acting like he was hurting.  So we saw Dr. Powell, expecting a diagnosis of reflux (just like Eileen had).  Dr. Powell did think he had reflux, but she sent William for an upper GI x-ray to verify her diagnosis.

The radiologist found a small esophageal stricture in William and Dr. Powell gave us the option of seeing if it would cause problems or going to see a pediatric gastroenterologist.  We chose to see the specialist and went to Mobile.  The pediatric GI diagnosed William as having dairy and soy intolerances (because his "reflux" symptoms started about 1.5 weeks after birth rather than right after birth).  I was told to cut all dairy and soy out of my diet (which is not easy to do) and to come back in a month to see how William was doing.  It takes one month because it takes two weeks for the offensive soy & dairy proteins to get out of the mother's body (and milk supply) completely, and then another two weeks for everything to leave the baby's body.

William after his first appointment with the GI doctor

William before his second GI appointment

In January we went for William's follow-up pediatric GI appointment, and William was doing SO much better.  Changing my diet, and thereby changing what was getting to William, was making a huge difference.  So we were surprised when the pediatric GI scheduled us for a surgery consult.  Dr. Powell was also surprised by the surgery consult.

We met with the surgeon at the end of January.  Before we knew it, William was scheduled for a scope and possible dilation at the beginning of March.  David and I thought that maybe we should ask for another upper GI xray before we went along with surgery, but we didn't say anything.

William at his surgery consult

The night before surgery, we stayed with David's grandparents in Daphne (near Mobile).  At about 6 pm, Eileen began having trouble breathing.  Luckily, family friend Dr. Meg Moore lives nearby and she was nice enough to see Eileen at her house late on Sunday evening.  Eileen had a bad cold and needed a nebulizer (which I'd packed... because I pack everything but the kitchen sink when traveling with a baby).

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am on March 2.  William had been fasting since midnight, with only a small bottle of Pedialyte at 3 am.  However, he wasn't taken back for surgery until 8:30 am.  All of his surgical nurses were so nice, but it was awful to see the little guy so hungry.  He handled it like a champ.

William on the way to the hospital for surgery

About 30 minutes after he'd been taken back, David and I got a call that William was back out and in recovery.  We happened to run into the very angry surgeon in the hall, and he informed us that the scope showed that nothing was wrong with William- there was no esophageal stricture.  David and I were so happy to hear that William was perfectly healthy that we weren't as upset as the surgeon that he'd been put under general anesthesia for no reason.

Getting dressed for surgery

Napping before surgery

Healthy Baby home after surgery

After the fact, I think we've been a little irritated that William had to undergo anesthesia when there was no cause.  However, David and I should have listened to our instincts and demanded another test before we consented to the surgery.  One day, we'll learn to listen to our parental instincts.

And in spite of this little bump in the road, we are incredibly blessed: William is perfectly healthy and is growing so quickly!

Cute in his hospital gown

Playing with his feet before surgery