Thursday night Apollo fell next to our brick hearth and got his first (non-surgical) stitches.
Chilling while the topical anesthetic starts to work.
I have to say, our local hospital is awesome about keeping Apollo away from other patients. Because of his chronic respiratory issues, he can’t sit in a waiting room full of sick people. Thursday night the ER was practically empty and they took us right back to a bed. Last time we were in, the place was swamped, but they found us an empty office where we waited until the doctor was ready. Thank you, St. Joseph’s Hospital!
Apollo did so good and only cried a little bit while they stitched him up.
And don’t worry, once the nurse brought him a pink popscicle all was forgiven, anyway.
And Chuck and I decided the the trip to the ER was a blessing in disguise. When I did Apollo’s 3:00 feeding, his g-tube looked fine and dandy. By his 7:00 feeding, this is what it looked like:
(sorry, the photos are from my phone and it wants to post them sideways)
You can’t see it here, but it was raised and welted. Since we were in the ER anyway, we showed it to them and he was able to start on oral antibiotics right away.
Who would have thought a gash to the eye would be a blessing! God is so good at taking care of us. Glad he will quickly be on the mend. Have you ever looked into Colloidal Silver to help fight infection? Not that you have the time or energy to do that right now…but you can tuck it away for when you do. I have a friend who has had to self cath for years and has not had to deal with infections (which is unheard of) and he gives the credit to the Colloidal Silver he takes.
Hi Renee, I’ve been reading your blog for a few years but not sure I’ve ever commented before. I’ve been a nurse for 26 years and have delth with my share of g-tubes in all settings. I was wondering how/if you dress Appollo’s GT? Does he get lekage for the insertion site. It certainly looks infected but also excoritaed which can be cause by the area around the tube being moist, especially if there is a dressing on. Of coures I don’t know what you ARE doing, but if he does have a dressing on I would suggest some kind of barrier cream on the skin before the dressing. If I were his nurse I would put a little antibiotc ointment around the GT site then a light coat of vaseline on the skin….like you do with babies bum to prevent diaper rash. Poor baby, it does look sore and wow, it cam on quick!
On another note I live in MA, 30 minutes from Boston. It looks like you guys mught go with TX but if you decide to check ut Boston Children’s please let me know and I will help in any way I can.
Tracy McKenna
We don’t dress it at all. We were putting the split gauze on it like they did at the hospital, but his GI doctor told us to leave it uncovered. He said it would breather better and the gauze would just trap the bacteria. It doesn’t usually leak or ooze unless it’s infected. On a good day, there is no leakage. He does struggle with granulation tissue, which we use steroid cream on. I think I will try a bit of antibiotic cream on it daily. We usually just use it when it gets red. Do you recommend a dressing? Or just leaving it to air? I think the problem is he takes his germy-hands (he’s two after all) and messes with it. Not sure how to prevent that.
Renee, no I don’t recommend a dressing. If you were doing one and there was leakage that could be a reason for the redness, like a diaper rash. It is so hard for kids not to touch and tug at stuff. The anitbiotic cream is a good idea, although if he is an antibiotic that should take care of the current infection. But it couldn’t hurt to just put a thin layer around the tube daily, even when it looks ok, kind of as a preventative. You’re such a good mom and I know you notcie anything amiss right away. but please feel free to email me if you have any questins r/t the gtube. I never worked peds or cardiac surgery so I can’t help you there. but like Isaid, if you decide to travel to boston please let me know and I will do anything I can do to help. God Bless:)
Tracy
Thanks!
I have to say,it is a blessing to see Apollo beaming in his photos even though he just had stitches and has obvious discomfort on his G tube area.He is very well balanced,which must come from all the love and support around him.Your family are a wonderful joy to read about.
In the 8 months since I found your blog I have learned a lot from the way you raise your family.
My family will be thinking of Apollo and you all as you head to Texas this month.
Jess*
Poor guy!! 🙁 I’m glad you can see the silver lining though! 🙂 Thanks for the link to the art book!
Melissa 🙂
Awww, poor little guy! I’m so glad that infection at the g-tube site was caught so early!