~The Stollery Visit~

So we had out appointment with the Gastorblahblah specialist at the Stollery Children’s Hospital on Monday.  I was hoping that he would tell me that I’m crazy, that nothing was wrong with our little boy…nope, he broke the news that there is definitely something going wrong.  He laid out what we could expect for the next steps. 

First a barium test to see if there was a blockage or narrowing of his esophagus.  Next step is an endoscopy where the specialist will use a camera to see exactly what is going on.  From there we head to multiple surgeries the expand the opening of his esophagus.  They will perform weekly surgeries to slowly expand the narrowed part of his esophagus, if they go too fast it could cause a tear.  Tears occur in 1% of all surgeries and it would mean an emergency surgery to repair it and weeks in the hospital.  Lord, I hope that doesn’t happen. 

So we had the barium test on Tuesday and I stood by Ethan’s side while they did it.  I could see the screen that showed the barium going down his throat and into his stomach.  You could see, very clearly, that there is a narrowing where the initial surgery was done.  The radiologist that was overseeing the test told me that there was no blockage, which I was pretty confident of already.  He didn’t however tell me how severe the narrowing was.  So I’m left wondering because I know nothing about the scale of the Xray that I watched while they did the test.  So I guess I have to wait until they give me the results of that one.

March 22 is when the endoscopy is booked for, we asked for it to be later in the spring so that we can have time to prepare for the weekly trips to Edmonton that will come after that.  We wanted to have better weather which means better roads for our trips.  Also a chance to get caught up on bills and money from Randy being away to school.  I will have to take some time off from work, I wish I could just be off completely…

So we aren’t exactly sure what is next for our little guy.  We do know that it is time to have this taken care of but I’m scared beyond belief of what this will mean for our life over the next few months.  It will be turned upside down.  Of course we will do whatever the little guy needs, I just hope the doctors can make him better!

So as I send out this to you tonight…please send some good thoughts to my little man, he is too cute to go through this without lots of love.  Secondly please make a charitable donation to the Stollery Children’s Hospital if it is in your means to do so.  Visit www.stollerykids.com to make a difference in a child’s life….a child like Ethan.