Abigail has her operation

Today’s good news is that Abigail successfully endured a three hour operation this afternoon to correct her reflux problem and to insert a gastrostomy feeding tube into her stomach. This evening she is recovering up on the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Lewisham hospital.

After a quick visit to the doctor’s surgery this morning with Josh (croup and a heavy cold), Nix and I went to the hospital for about 10am and spent time with Abigail as she was given her final glucose feeds and medication before surgery. She slept soundly most of the morning but thankfully she did wake up and play with us for a bit before she went down to theatre. Abby had actually been sick twice in the night from reflux and had only slept for four hours so it was little wonder she was tired.

At around 12.45pm we unhooked Abby from her monitors and feeding pump, got her changed into a very small and brightly coloured surgical gown and then carried her down to theatre where we spoke with her anaesthetist. She explained how they would administer her pain control and also warned us that Abby may well experience quite a bit of pain for two days after the operation. We both found it very difficult to say goodbye to Abigail as a nurse carried her into the theatre. She went in at 1pm and although we knew there was some pre-operative procedures to go through first, we’d been told that the operation would last 90 minutes and expected her out at around 3.30pm.

The afternoon seemed to drag and became increasingly more tense and stressful as time went on. At 4pm we asked a nurse to enquire after Abby. She could only tell us that she was still in theatre and that in some very young children the operation can take longer because it’s that much more fiddly. At 5pm we asked them to phone up again and we were finally told that she would be moved up to PICU shortly. Having already been given a tour of the facility earlier in the day we went up to meet her. At this point we still had no idea of the success or otherwise of the operation, or why it seemed to have taken more than twice as long as it should have. A surgical registrar then came to see us to explain that the operation had gone smoothly and that it had taken a longer because Abby is so small and the procedure was quite delicate. In fact, Abby was still down in the recovery room near the operating theatres so we went to meet her. Once there we learned that administering the correct anaesthetic and setting up the epidural and taken some time. Abby’s operation had not actually started until 2.15pm.

We were astonished to see her awake and blinking at us as we met her. She was being given oxygen and was quite cold but otherwise she was recovering well. She had two IV lines in – one in each arm – but generally looked in good shape. She did look a bit scared and a little pale but this was probably a potent mixture of anaesthesia, drugs and shock. Nix and I helped to wheel her up to PICU where she was transferred to her bed. She is expected to remain in intensive care overnight tonight and for some of tomorrow, depending on how she recovers. Nix is staying at the hospital tonight but as I left at around 8.30pm, she was suffering from quite a low temperature and attempts were being made to warm her up with heaters. This is probably just her reaction to the drugs and anaesthetic. Doctors have said they will abandon a round of two of her anti-convulsant drugs tonight: both Piracetam and Topiramate cannot be given intravenously and doctors want to give Abby’s stomach time to recover from her operation.

We will speak at length with Abigail’s surgeon on Wednesday but in the short term we’re expecting her to be moved back down to the ward sometime tomorrow and for feeds through her new gastrostomy tube to begin after about three days. In theory, there is a 7-10 day recovery period after which she’ll be allowed home but given her other problems, doctors may opt to keep her in for a longer period to confirm that she is able to feed properly and gain weight again.