Tucker's emptying scan was done today. The tech said it looked "normal" but the doc won't get the report until this weekend, so I won't get the official word until Monday. UGH, as much as I didn't want there to be a problem, I was kind of hoping there was so at least we would have some answers as to what's causing Tucker to retch all the time. He's doing better on our new feeding schedule (PO/bolus during the day and continuous drip at night via g-tube).

The good news, he gained 6 ounces this week. It doesn't sound like much, but with FTT every ounce is a blessing!

We saw his pulmonary doctor on Thurdsay. He thinks Tucker looks great, but didn't have any answers for us either. He was very positive though. He said sometimes children like Tucker come along just to let all the doctors know what fools they really are, and that we may never have a diagnosis.

The fundo itself will cause all the wretching, Poor little guy! I am sure if the tech and you saw it emptying than it has to be mild to normal, when there is an emptying problem it is prett obvious. I hope you get some answers soon. I think wretching is just part of the recovery for most of them, it took us a good 11 months to get past it. As it it heals more and more there will wretching too.:hug: :hug:

11 mos! Wow, I never would have thought it would take that long to get past the retching. He had the surgery in August, so we are 6 mos into it. It's just weird because he went a while without retching at all (maybe 2 weeks straight and then good days here and there). We keep assuming it's the caloric intake or the formula. Maybe it is just the fundo. Who knows at this point! Thanks.

Sam has occ. wretching episodes, seems to be with increased volume or if I feed him too fast. He also did not tolerated the more comcentrated formula at first. Hope you get some answers.

The retching can last for a long time after a fundo is performed. I do know some children that retched for a year after a fundo was done. It is so hard to watch and see our children go through this.

I do know that for my son his dge was progressive and didnt look so bad after his first fundo but continued to get worse. I was wondering if the gi doc has thought about doing a gj button and doing feeds in the jport. Sometimes there can be some inflamation in the stomach due to the retching and will make the retching continue and worse. I do know that doing jfeeds can help give the stomach a rest. We had to do this with my son on several occasions. He currently has a gj button and when on feeds do use the jport.

Also remember that the study is an interpatation and each facility has there own standards set. I know this first hand because my son has had several gastric emptying studies done at different facilities and each one had a different number to set the diagnosis of dge. I do hope that you are able to get some anwers and soon.

Melanie

We are seeing GI on Wednesday, so I will ask about gj button. I don't know that we are at the point where we'd want to put him through another surgery though. He retches a lot, and it's miserable, but not constant. (Although today it felt like it was constant, poor little guy). I'm anxious to hear what the GI says about the emptying scan. Although, with the scan, we only put 50ccs down his tube b/c he had to lie down immediately afterwards--which we all know is terrible for a baby with reflux, fundo or not. And Tucker usually retches approximately an hour into a feed and over 50 ccs into a feed, so I"m not sure how accurate the results are going to be. Could he start emptying at a normal pace and then at a certain point slow down (or speed up)?

Well, let us know how the appointment goes!!! Not sure about the emptying.... I think that just the fundo itself could be causing all the wretching as it slowly heals. Hope you get some answers today, I will be thinking of you guys, and checking in.

Just spoke to the GI. The emptying scan was normal--almost abnormally so. (Whatever that means). Tucker had a horrible weekend of retching and missed 2 feeds b/c of it. UGH! The poor little guy can't afford to miss any meals...he needs all the calories he can get. GI told me to put him on the pump 24 hr/day if it looks like we are going to have a bad retching day since he tolerates that better. Another step backwards. I just called Shands in hopes that they can get us in before April. They said to have GI call on-call doc tomorrow and hopefully we can. Keep your fingers crossed!

I'm sorry your going through this, unfortunately retching is just one the big evils you trade when you have a fundo. Please keep us posted on everything, if he wasn't tube fed I would be asking if they have checked to see if the wrap is too tight? Could that still be affecting it? We had to have Es dialated, and he was much better after that. The healing is so slow though and it is so sensitive to retching... Anhow, I feel for you guys, :smt056 :hug: :hug: :hug:

We just had a party saturday night for Eli. It was his one year anniversay since his fundo complete with cake and we sang happy tummy day to you!

Wow, the one year mark--YAY! Thanks for all of the support. Your guys are such an inspiration.