My cute little smurf



Psalm 33:21 No wonder we are happy in the Lord!  For we are trusting Him.  We trust His holy name.

Christopher's stay in the intensive care unit was shorter than expected.  The surgeon had initially predicted that Christopher would probably be there for at least a week, but after only one day he was moved back to the general pediatric floor.  This may not sound like a big deal, but it really was!   It came as quite a shock to the nurses and doctors just how fast Christopher was able to recover from such an overwhelming and life threatening event, but it was clear that God was there.  He was working miracles for Christopher and helping him heal from the deadly infection that had assaulted his infant body.

Purple Smurf character

That is not to say that Christopher was all better and ready to go home.  The infection and subsequent surgery had taken a HUGE toll on him.  It would take weeks for him to fully recover.  During that time he continued to receive IV antibiotics.  The antibiotics he was given were some of the strongest available at the time.  They worked quite well on the infection, but caused severe diarrhea which led to horrible diaper rash, as well as, another side effect called Thrush. Thrush is a yeast infection that sometimes develops in infants especially if they are given antibiotics.  It looks like white patches all over the inside of the baby's mouth covering the lips, tongue, cheeks, roof of mouth, and throat.  It makes the whole mouth and throat feel very sore.  In infants it is most often treated topically.  Christopher was treated with a medication called Gentian Violet.  When they applied it to the inside of his mouth, he squirmed around a lot and got his little hands in his mouth.  The Gentian  Violet got all over his hands, arms, and face.  He looked like a little smurf!  He was purple all over.  It even got into his hair.

My little purple smurf also had another problem.  His digestive system (which didn't work well to begin with) had a very difficult time waking up from the anesthesia.  He wasn't able to urinate on his own, so they had to catheterize him.  It took several days before he was able to urinate normally without assistance.

TPN feeding

Tube feeding him was also not possible at this point.  His digestive track just wasn't ready for it, but his body had gone too long without proper nutrition.  He was losing too much weight, and the doctors were concerned that it could effect his growth and development.  They came up with a new plan until tube feedings could be started up again.  It was called TPN or total parenteral nutrition. This is nutrition that is give through an IV into the veins.  It is different from the regular IV fluids given to prevent dehydration.  With TPN feeding the patient is given nutrition and calories intravenously.  Sugars, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, electrolytes, and trace minerals are included in the TPN therapy.  It can be vital to the survival of the patient, but it isn't without side effects.  It is very caustic to the veins, so it can damage them rendering them useless.  It can also cause problems with the liver, so liver function tests are required.  The bottom line is that TPN is a measure of last resort.  Fortunately, Christopher was only on it for a short time. 

Another result of the surgery was the incision.  The incision was a full length, "zipper" incision.  It was not stitched closed all the way in order to allow the infection to leach out.  A sterile gauze was used to pack the incision and absorb the infectious liquid that oozed from the wound.  The gauze had to be changed regularly.  It was a good thing that Christopher had adequate pain medication because this was a painful procedure.  For the first several days the nurses had me leave the room when they were changing the gauze because the incision site was very shocking to look at.  I know it was a good idea for me to wait in the hall.  I'm glad I don't have any memories of my child with a full length incision exposing all his innards etched in my mind. 

Christopher also had to have a NG tube placed down his nose and into his stomach again.  This was to allow all the saliva, stomach acids, and bile to be continuously drained out.  With his digestive track "out of order" things were really backing up.  The NG tube allowed him to be more comfortable.

It's hard to imagine that with all this he could be comfortable at all!  He was given pain medication around the clock, but it was easy to see that he was still in pain.  He was hooked up to so many tubes, wires, and monitors that it was difficult to see my tiny, little purple smurf at all.  I wasn't allowed to hold him for several days.  It was just too painful to move him.  He didn't cry much either.  He just didn't seem to have the energy.  What he did most was SLEEP!  He was exhausted, and he just needed lots of sleep to help his body recover.

I took advantage of that fact to get some much needed rest myself.  This whole thing had completely worn me out, and all my reserves had been depleted.  Now that Christopher was in a "rest and recovery mode" I was able to breathe easier and rest more.

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

More Tomorrow...