Another Infection?.....

Hi friends!

      So things haven’t gone so great post J tube exchange.  I had begun to heal and the soreness was improving when things took a turn for the worse.  The pain started worsening and getting sharp and I began having the dreaded bright green/teal drainage I always have with the pseudomonas infections.  So I ended up contacting my infectious disease doctor on Friday and she said with the pictures I sent her combined with my history it is concerning for another infection.  Anyhow, they scheduled me for cultures at 2:00 tomorrow (Monday) afternoon and they’re already planning on starting the process of arranging IV antibiotics  first thing Monday morning.  So it’s pretty obvious I have yet another infection - just awaiting “official” diagnosis with the cultures.  Over the weekend I’ve started feeling a little crummy and the pain has sky rocketed to the point it is now constant unless I’m sitting.  When I’m standing all I want to do is hunch over and hold my J tube site.

Otherwise, life has been life...pretty uneventful.  Been having some headaches pretty regularly, but that’s probably just coming from my anemia.  I’ve kept my feeding on half rate over 24hrs instead of full rate over 12hrs for the time being.  I just don’t want to upset the apple cart until this infection is under control and upping my feeding would just put more stress on my intestines right in the area of this infection.

I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy!  Much love to all my prayer warriors and encouragers out there! :)

Allison

 Hi friends!

     I am so very sorry it has taken me so long to update!  There has been a lot weighing on my heart.  I can’t give details but I would definitely appreciate continued prayer regarding this unspoken request.

First of all I would like to inform you that my whole family survived covid without lasting issues.  Thankfully my daddy never got it (or had it with no symptoms) and none of us had any emergent issues.  It was a doozy of 3 sick weeks but very grateful we have all recovered well!

Since my last post I had my GI follow up which went well and got my G tube changed out via endoscopy to the kind of tube I normally use.  It is doing very well!

I FINALLY got my J tube changed out on Monday!!!  A while back I felt a pop inside at my J tube and thought a stitch must’ve popped loose.  I found out Monday it was most likely when the retention balloon (that holds the tube in) ruptured.  They were trying and trying to empty the balloon and couldn’t get anything out so they decided to push a little liquid in to see if they could see it on the X-ray.  Well, it went straight into my bowel instead of filling a balloon.  The doctor informed me it was ruptured so they were just going to have to pull it through.  They went through a whole list of things that might help it be a little easier to bear, but of course none of them were options for my crazy oversensitive body so they settled for a little saline to hopefully help it come out easier...which did NOT work.  It was EXCRUCIATING as they slowly pulled it out.  The whole time he was pulling the tube out he was saying “hm...wow...what is that?!” They had to pull it very slowly instead of just 1, 2, 3, yank it through because it is such a new stoma (hole) that you risk ripping the new scar tissue with any brisk force.  Anyways, the doctor stared at the tube for a few seconds and then told me that in addition to the balloon being completely ruptured, it had debris or something on it.  After getting the new, MUCH more comfy tube put in, he showed me the tube.  He said he had never seen anything like it.  It was so weird....it was big, hard nodule like things with a stitch hanging in the middle of it.  The “growths” almost looked like something that you would imagine scar tissue looking like.  No one knew what on earth it was but agreed that it was likely the reason my J tube had become so position sensitive.  It is WONDERFUL not having to tape it and bandage it up like I had been...now I can just pop a tubie pad under the outside bumper and be good to go!  And it’s not insanely position sensitive as it had been.  Unfortunately, due to the trauma to the stoma/bowel, I’m having some difficulty tolerating my full feeding amount.  I’m now trying to half my feeding rate and do it over 24hrs instead of 12.  That way I can hopefully get my full feeding in just at a different pace.  I’ve decided to do my feeding at this rate for around a week and then try going back to the original rate over 12hrs.

A specific Bible verse that has been a comfort for me lately has been Psalm 147:3... “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”  No matter how broken and wounded my heart is, I can always count on my sweet Savior to always help and heal those wounds. <3