Tuesday, September 9, 2008, in the Evening

Good evening all. Today has been a good, but long day. Zander's procedure was scheduled to take place at 12:55, but surgery was backed up and he did not go to surgery until about 3:30 p.m.

The procedure to dilate his esophagus went well. Dr. Kelley told us that it was much more open than he anticipated. He did open it more. Zander will have to have this done every 2 weeks or so for the next few months. The reason he has to have it done so frequently is to ensure that the site where his esophagus is connected together does not become firm. Stated another way if Dr. Kelley does not do this the surgical connection site will become rigid and the scar will harden.

Dr. Kelley told us that he also put die into the stomach to check the reflux issue. Praise God, there is no more reflux. Dr. Kelley said he saw no sign of reflux whatsoever and the fundoplication was well connected and healing properly.

We also asked Dr. Kelley his thoughts on what needed to take place from his perspective before Zander could go home. Dr. Kelley said that Zander has endured everything he has been through better than any baby with these problems that he has seen. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT EVERYONE'S PRAYERS AND THE GRACE OF GOD HAS MADE THIS POSSIBLE. Dr. Kelley said that Zander's stomach needed to be able to handle 75 ml of food every 3 hours in order to be able to go home. At present he is on 45 ml every 3 hours during the day. He is already getting 75 ml every 3 hours in the evening, but he is receiving this on a continuous basis (25 ml every hour) verses all in one sitting. As a result, Dr. Kelley said that within "a week or two" assuming he continued to do well, Zander's stomach should be able to handle the 75 ml at a time. YEAH!!!!!!!

There are other issues to take into account before he can go home, but the largest is his ability to handle enough food in his stomach. He is going to have his MRI on his spine on Friday. They will have to sedate him otherwise, he will not stay still. Christie and I are training on the aspects of his care and we should be talking to Pearl, the social worker about ordering medical equipment, coordinating in home nursing services, and scheduling the numerous follow-up appointments for Zander.

Today has been a good day for all of us, but especially for Christie and I. We both wanted to talk with Dr. Kelley about getting him home and he is pretty much on track with what everyone else has indicated to us.

Houston and Jackson are sound asleep and Christie and I are not far behind them. God is always good, but today, I felt it more...

Sweet dreams boys. Sleep well Zman and keep eating. Keep moving along. We love all three of you dearly.

Clancy