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J-tube Time

Anthony is scheduled to go to the OR at 10:30 this morning to have a surgical J-tube inserted. They plan to do an “open” procedure as opposed to laparoscopic procedure (minimally invasive surgery). I think this is a good idea considering Anthony’s history. With an open procedure the surgeon will be able to get a better look and hopefully a good placement of the new tube. This tube will be placed beyond the anastomosis from the vulvulus. He will also keep his G-tube, so that we will be able to keep his stomach empty (and reduce the risk of aspiration), while feeding via the J-tube. Anthony will go to the PICU after surgery.

Right now, Anthony has two student nurses caring for him. It is interesting to watch the interactions between the students and thier instructor. I know exactly what these girls are dealing with, and I still get a sort of sick feeling from my own days as a student nurse. I sure would not want to go through that again! These girls are so green, but I can tell that at least one of them is going to be an excellent nurse. The instructor is very good and sure knows her stuff. One of the students is going to do her first sterile procedure, changing Anthony’s PICC line dressing. Should be interesting.

I’m just sitting in the corner typing. They have no idea that I’m an RN and I don’t volunteer that information. I’m sure they are nervous enough.

10:30 Update: Anthony just went into the OR, right on time.

1:30 Update: The surgery went well. It took a little over 2 hours. The surgeon said that Anthony had a bit of scar tissue at the anastomosis area, but nothing he was concerned about. The j-tube was placed “down stream” from that area. The GJ-tube was replaced with a G-tube. He is in recovery now and we are waiting to see him. After recovery he will go to the PICU. Will update again when we get to the PICU.

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Anthony | cindy | | Leave a comment

Plan B

It seems that Anthony is unable to tolerate anything in his stomach without reflux causing stomach contents up to the back of his throat. Anthony has a very strong cough, which is good for clearing his lungs, however when he coughs, this also pushes his stomach contents up to his airway, which causes more coughing – it’s a vicious cycle. Even on an empty stomach, the stomach still has acids and any saliva that Anthony swallows, so his stomach is never really empty. We tried attaching a bag to the G-tube port (stomach port) to allow his stomach to empty. With this drainage bag, when he coughs, the acids go into the bag rather than up to his airway. We were feeding him via the J-tube and not seeing any formula in his stomach drainage. This approach was working great and we were up to 40cc/hour (with a goal of 50cc/hour).

Unfortunately, Anthony vomited about a week ago and the vomiting seems to have displaced the tube. We are now getting formula in his G-tube drainage. Basically, some of the formula is going in and then out again. This will not do. It seems the shorter GD-tube will not stay in place, plus considering the difficulty placing this type of tube, we have decided to go with a surgical J-tube.

So, Anthony will have two separate tubes, a G-tube to keep his stomach empty and a J-tube for feeding. The J-tube will be place beyond the site of his vulvulas surgery. Another advantage to this type of tube is that once Anthony is completely healed from this surgery, I’ll be able to change or replace both tubes myself, without having to go to the hospital. This is a big plus to me.

Anthony is scheduled to be admitted to the hospital on January 31st for pre-op testing and bowel prep. Surgery will be on Tuesday Feb. 1st and if all goes well he will be discharged on Wednesday or Thursday. He will continue on TPN via the PICC line until we are able to get enough calories into him via the new J-tube. We are optimistic that this procedure will work for Anthony and we can get him off the TPN and back to school.

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Anthony | cindy | | 1 Comment |   GD-tube gj-tube J-tube PICC reflux TPN vulvulas

Replicators Coming Soon?

I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to science and science fiction. My favorite TV show is Star Trek: The Next Generation. Often times science fiction can give us a glimpse into the future. What is fiction today might be the scientific innovations of tomorrow. Take for example the Star Trek replicator. A replicator can create any inanimate object, as long as the desired molecular structure is on file. Just tell the computer what you want and the replicator will make a copy for you.

The Star Trek replicator was all I could think of when I recently read a story about the Makerbot Thing-o-matic. A Thing-o-matic is basically a printer, but rather than printing with ink, the Thing-o-matic prints with melted plastic. The plastic is printed in layers, which allows the user to make 3D objects. A person can design just about anything using 3D software, feed the design into the printer and print out a copy. Once a design is created, it can be shared via the internet and someone on the other side of the planet can print out the object. This could eventually eliminate stores and shipping. You just order a file online and print out your thingy. It would be like having your own little factory.

Makerbot Industries has sold 2,600 of these printers and has an active online community that shares their designs via Thingiverse. I have a feeling that this could be the beginning of something BIG.

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Technology | cindy | | Leave a comment |   makerbot Replicator Star Trek Thing-o-matic thingiverse

Update on Anthony

Brief recap

On December 7th Anthony had emergency surgery for a jejunal volvulus and had 135cm of his small intestine removed. Details here

He spent 11 days in the hospital and came home with a g-tube and a PICC line. Because of the surgery, they had to discontinue his GJ-tube and place a G-tube. Prior to the volvulus, Anthony had to be fed via J-tube (Jejunal tube) because he is unable to tolerate G-tube (gastostomy tube) feedings due to severe gastric reflux.

We were unable to feed him sufficient calories via the new g-tube because of his reflux and we could not place a new GJ-tube because of the surgery. So, he came home with a PICC line for TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition via an intravenous).

The Plan: to replace his GJ-tube once his small intestine heals. If they are unable to replace the GJ-tube, then they would do a surgical J-tube.

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On January 5, 2011, Anthony returned to the hospital for a GJ-tube. Anthony had had a G-tube for many years. However, after his spinal fusion about 4 years ago, his reflux kept getting worse until we finally decided to place a GJ-tube. A GJ-tube is basically a tube that is threaded through his present G-tube stoma and then guided via x-ray into his Jejunum (second part of the small intestine).

Because of Anthony’s past abdominal surgeries (Nissen fundoplication and the more recent bowel resection) threading the tube from stomach into the small intestine is a challenge. Plus, they have to be very careful with the placement of the tube to avoid the surgical site (where they sutured the small intestine together). They had to order a custom JG-tube, which is a short tube and could actually be called a GD-tube, because it goes into the duodenum, (first portion of the small intestine). If they were unable to place this tube, the back-up plan was to do a surgical J-tube.

It took them about 3 hours under general anesthesia to get proper placement of the tube. He was admitted overnight for observation. He was discharge the next day with the new tube at 20cc/per hour. We need to gradually increase this amount with a goal of 50cc/hr 24/7. This is enough calories to be able to discontinue the TPN and remove the PICC line.

We are really in no hurry to stop the TPN, because Anthony has lost a lot of weight and we would like him to gain some weight before removing the PICC line. We have a follow up appointment with the surgeon on Wednesday.

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Anthony | cindy | | 3 Comments |   g-tube gastostomy tube gj-tube J-tube jejunal volvulus PICC