Almost 1 year from Elijah's Fatal Incident

This Saturday will be the mark of one year since Elijah was hospitalized for what should have been no more then a basic surgery to put his mic key button back in since coming out overnight. I found this entry that I wrote when this happened. Thought I would share.

01/15/2010

"Okay so today was supposed to be a good day, and I guess in a way it turned out okay because I feel blessed. Last night Eli said the three magical words "I Love You" (or "I wuv oo") with meaning and without being prompted! I was soooo happy! So anyway, I set him up for his night feed and went to bed about 11pm. Carter his 1 year old brother woke up with a bad dream sometime in the night and I had to get him back to bed. Then I woke up at about 6:30 to Eli's drip alarm going off to let me know that his feed was done.

I turned it off and went to flush the tube and his entire bed was soaked and his g tube malfunctioned. What was even worse is that I tried to put his back up in and the opening had completely shut.
So, I packed everything up, dropped poor Carter off at my mother in laws and took Eli to the downtown children's hospital that we so often seem to frequent.
We ended up in the ER where the Doctor insisted on trying to stick this metal dilating tool into Eli to open the hole back up enough to put the mic key button back in. Well, That didn't work and Eli was screaming in pain and the shock that I found out later from the surgeon was like a stab wound. I told them to stop and he wanted to go a little more but finally gave up because he realized it wasn't going anywhere plus, Eli started to bleed a lot. I was so mad at this point and demanded they give him some pain meds as they then did. The ER Doc then decided to sedate him (He was still awake) and pushed his way to getting the tube back in. I couldn't stand seeing my son on a table paralyzed except for the fact that when they did something drastic his little body would shake. We then had to go through what they call a "Dye Test". This test is to make sure the the mic key button is in proper place and going straight into the stomach. Well is wasn't. The doctor pushed right through the opening with the dilating tool but didn't care to pay attention to make sure he was following the path that was surgically placed. See, when the doctor puts in a gtube he makes a path and sews the stomach lining in a way so the food can feed through properly . So by his neglect, Eli started bleeding internally where they then put him straight into surgery. To be honest I didn't know how close I was to losing my little boy until after they had sedated him and wheeled him away. That is when the surgeon told me how fatal this was and he would do everything he could.  Eli had already started a fever, and was showing signs of the starts of severe infection. Luckily, the surgeon was able to catch it in time and was able to stop the bleeding and clean it up. He had bled quite a bit. It's now about 4 hours past surgery and he still has a slight fever. The surgeon said that I had been right and it was because of the dilating tool that the doctor in the ER used. I know that the Dr. knew he had done wrong because he came in kinda mean and afterwards was kind of a suck up. Eli isn't completely out of the woods yet and we will be in the hospital for at least a few more days if not more. I am just so happy to have my little boy back. It will be hard to be away from Carter but he can't be here and Mike works on weekends. Mike my hubby actually finally showed up and left work early when he found out Eli was in surgery. I love him for being there. I already miss both of them. Carter is going through that "I just want mommy" stage so I know this is hard on him to.
I am so tired and have such a headache from crying and lack of sleep. I just feel blessed right now, I have my baby and nothing else matters."

Let me tell you that I do look at that now and go why didn't I sue the hell out of the doctor?
Well just so you know I did everything I could in reporting the jerk because no other child should ever be seen by him again. But, I think at the time I was so overwhelmed with what was going on that it was one more thing. And I just couldn't handle it. 
Anyway, One year later and I am so glad that there have been no more problems. We went back to the same surgeon for a follow up in Feb. which is when we decided on the Gtube he has in now and it's been great. I feel truly blessed for the surgeon that was there that day. He exactly what a healthcare professional should be.




So, This Saturday January 15th, 2011, let's all raise a glass, and thank God for our blessings!