Wednesday

Well thanks for all the prayers. Yesterday he got up and went to the teen lounge, and he had all the volunteers playing apples to apples with him. He played bingo and won. He didn't use the pain button the whole time. Luie's pain has been super mininmal. He will at times push the button for the pain meds for just a little pain. I think he is scared that it will grow, but thank God it hasn't. We bicker and dispute that all the time, but if he wants to eat, he has to not be using it. So last night they started him on popsicles and he had jello this morning. Another fight we had the entire time he was eating the jello. He is so slow!!! He didn't really want it. He wants a big cheesy omelet with bacon! But baby steps. His surgeon, Dr Barsness, who is a huge Blackhawks fan, as is Luie, brought him the official Blackhawks Stanley Cup hat. She is the best!

I hope we are home by Saturday, but we'll just have to wait and see what the docs say. But NO MORE BAGS!! Woo hoo!! NO more sugeries, Lord willing!! and lets pray for no more hospital, or pain.

Thank you all.

Z

LAST SURGERY

Today my son had his very last surgery!!! God willing. He arrived with his dad at Children's memorial at 12:05. His surgery started at about 2:10 and was done by 4:00 pm. He came out with a lot of pain but as of right now he seems to be doing really well. He is doing a crossword puzzle with his dad on the internet. He also came out very chatty!! They have removed the bag!!! His intestines were attached to each other again, and has a couple of stitches on his incision in his abdomen where his intestine, or his ILEO as doctors call it, use to stick out of. I am so proud of my baby! His stay in here in the hospital should be about 5 days. Our goal is for his intestines to wake up. That means less pain meds. Once his intestines awake he can start on foods and see how he does and then HOME!!

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.

God Bless you

Z

Surgery today

Hi everyone, Luie had his 2nd surgery of 3 today. The surgery went as planned and he had no complications, and a surgery that can take from 5 to 8 hours, his surgery was done in just over 5 hours. Today what they did was detach the intesting from his abdomen and create a j pouch out of the end of his small intestine, they removed what was left of his rectum and attach the j pouch. They create a new ileostomy out of his intestines and we are done. He is in a lot of pain, so please keep him in your prayers.
Thank you to all of you for you kind words and always thinking of us.
Z

until now..... Next surgery

Since Luie has been home in December there have been many ups and downs, many sick, sad and painful days, but what keeps his head up and mine is knowing that at the end of this, he will be better. He has delighted in eating whatever he wants. Learning along the way that some things he shouldn't have or have just a little of. Like, chocolate, sugar or milk. Thank God for humor, and that we tend to be very sarcastic in our family, and although this is a serious matter, at times when one may get depressed or cry, we try to look at the brighter side of things and laugh about a lot of the gross stuff or unexpected. In Luie's next surgery, they will take down his Ileostomy, (don't celebrate yet, they put it back), they will remove the 4 inches or so of colon that is left, called the mucosa, they will create the J pouch out of his small intestine, make an opening at the bottom of that J, and attach it to his rectum. After that they will go back to his intestine and create another Ileostomy this time cutting somewhere in the midst of the small intestine, still bypassing his rectum to give it time to heal. 6 weeks later or so we go back to have the Ileostomy removed for good. For those that have asked or would like to know what an Ileostomy is, or looks like, below you will find a definition and pictures. These are NOT pictures of LUIE, he would kill me. No, I'm not kidding. But they do look a lot like his scars and stoma. Our surgern says his is a beautiful stoma. At first we thought it must be a medical thing, but compared to pictures we have seen on the internet, Luie does have a Beautiful stoma. The guy in the picture, very close.
Well that is our update for now, please keep Luie in your thoughts and prayers.

Have a great day!!
Z

Ileostomy Definition

An Ileostomy is a surgically created opening in the abdominal wall. The end of the Ileum (the lowest portion of the small intestine) is brought through the abdominal wall to form a stoma, usually on the lower right side of the abdomen.

When you look at a stoma, you are actually looking at the lining (or mucosa) of the intestine, which is like the lining of your cheek. The stoma will appear pink to red and will be moist and shiny. I will reduce in size over a short period of time after surgery. The shape eill be round to oval and may protrude or be flush with the skin.

In this picture you see the Stoma, and a few of the scars.

They also went in through his belly button.

Here you see #1 will be his stoma once it is closed, and the remaining scares 2 & 4 but Luie will have one more that goes from under his belly button down a few inches.

At home

Luie came home, as many know December 23rd. At first the pain was difficult to manage as well as his new friend that he must keep for 4 to 5 months. The first week of school he went 3 out of the 5 days. Monday I dropped him off only to have to turn around and pick him up less then 2 hours later. Last Wednesday was his first day to come home on the bus, it went great, Thursday didn't go so well, someone accidentally hit him in the chest, but thank God there was no damage. This week has been better. He started Monday and Tuesday at 10:30 and came home on the Bus. Today Big Justin dropped him off so he didn't miss any classes. So far no phone calls to pick him up. I hope I'm not jinxing myself. He will get pain time to time but he lays down in the nurses office and it passes after about 20 minutes. He does wake up in pain almost everyday, but I find that if he gets out of bed right away, the walking helps. I give him pain meds and he's good to go. Tomorrow we will try taking the bus to school. Thank you all for your support. Our goals now are for him to gain weight and his blood levels to go up. If that works out then he can have his second surgery at the end of March. Pray and cross your fingers, I have faith he will come out stronger, and better at the end.

He's home!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!
We have been very busy. A funny thing happened on my way to the hospital yesterday, I called to talk to Luie's dad and he gave me the great news that Luie might be coming home. I had to do all I could to keep from crying since the weather was so crappy. When I reached the hospital, sure enough the surgeon gave the go ahead that Luie could go home. Alelujah! Señor tu eres bueno!!! That means Lord you are good. My baby left the hospital December 23rd at about 6-6:30. He went to his dad's, as planned to spend Christmas with him, his step mom, his sister and his brother. I saw him this morning and spoke to him just a bit ago, he's doing good.

Luie was able to drink and hold it down with no nausea, and he was able to eat and hold it down. This is why they decided to send him home yesterday versus today. Lu's family came over to celebrate Christmas and visit with Luie. We will follow up with the surgeon on Wednesday, and perhaps will discuss the surgeries that we still have to have done.

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and kind words.

Day 10

I'm doing really good and the goal is to be outta here by Christmas Eve. I read your messages and think wow everyone really is worried. I walk a lot and when someone comes to visit we usually play a game. I had a hard time sleeping lastnight but I think tonight going to be different. Thanks for all your get well messages I like them and I know to remember they lift my spirits and everyone writing them will help me get through this.

Luie