Groundhog day

It's a great laugh!

The debate was over.  The search was over.  We had a scientific, proven diagnosis.  Christopher had Chronic Pseudo Obstruction Syndrome.  We knew what was wrong.  Now what do we do about it?  Was there a cure?

The next step was to have a meeting with the doctors to discuss what we knew and what to do about it.  The GI doctor was glad that we finally had figured out what was wrong with Christopher, but she was sad to report that there was no cure for what ailed him.  There was a way around though.  There was a way to help him grow and live.  It was the same thing we had been doing, tube feeding. 

I voiced an obvious concern, keeping the tube in place.  We needed a more long term solution.  The tube down his nose wasn't practical, and all the radiation was dangerous.  The doctors agreed.  It was decided that we would try a different type of tube.  They would make a small incision in the side of Christopher's abdomen and another incision into his small intestine.   A tube would be inserted into the first incision and then threaded into the incision in his intestine.  They would put in a couple of stitches to help secure the tube.  It was a fairly simple, surgical procedure.

The nurses started to prepare Christopher for surgery, and the next day he was wheeled into the operating room where he would get his new tube.  This tube would provide a more permanent solution to the problem.   Well...that was the plan, but you know what they say sometimes about "best laid plans."  Things don't always go "according to plan."

No worries.  Groundhogs are great drivers!

While Christopher was on the operating table, we waited in the surgical waiting area.  Having been here twice before, I was really getting familiar with the place.  Have you ever seen that movie, Groundhog Day with Bill Murray and Andie McDowell?  If you haven't, you have got to check it out.  It is a very funny, very clever, very "outside the box" type of movie.  My favorite part is when Bill Murray and the groundhog take off in a red pickup truck, and the groundhog does the driving!  It's good stuff.  Believe me, you'll get a great laugh out of it.  The story line itself is unique.  It's about a guy who keeps re-living the same day over and over again, groundhog day.  I felt like I was living that movie right there in the surgical waiting area.  I knew everything about the room by heart...how the furniture was laid out, where the coffee was located, the magazine options.  I had definitely been there before.

He even looks funny!

Unlike the movie, there is nothing funny about the surgical waiting area.  It was small, so it had a very claustrophobic, confined feeling to it.  There were no windows, so you didn't have the benefit of natural light.  In fact one of the overhead fluorescent lights was making that buzzing sound they make sometimes.  The people there were definitely in no "laughing mood."  On the contrary, the room is filled with crying, worried loved ones who are watching the clock and clamoring to get some news about the patient their waiting for.  All in all, it's a pretty bleak, depressing place.  Maybe they should offer funny movies.  The first time around I probably wouldn't have watched, but by "round 3" I think I would have enjoyed a little Groundhog Day.   We could have used a little lightheartedness to break the ice.  You could have cut the tension in there with a knife!

The surgery was short, so it wasn't long before Christopher's surgeon appeared to tell us that all had gone as planned.  The tube was in place, and Christopher would be in recovery for an hour or so.  We would be able to see him back in his hospital room.  Wow, this really was like Groundhog Day.  I had definitely heard that before.  This surgery thing was becoming too routine, too familiar. 

Just as we had done twice before, we met up with Christopher back in his room.  They wheeled him into the room in his "hospital crib" which looks more like a cage than a crib.  We greeted him with kisses and encouraging words.  He was very sleepy, and we were relieved to see that he seemed to be in no pain at all.

The plan was for him to recover from the surgery, and then have his tube feedings slowly resume.  If everything went well, he would be able to go home in a few days, but everything did NOT go well.  Everything went totally WRONG.  It went so wrong that he almost didn't get to go home at all.

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can pray like this:

More tomorrow...