April 10, 2006

This is going to be one of the weirdest and funniest posts ever but... Ellie Kate pooped last night.  She did it all on her own, with no help from Glycerin, enema, suppository or the like.  Her stomach was battling all night last night, causing her quite a bit of pain and discomfort... but after a few hours, she finally got some relief.  Hopefully this is a sign that things are not only moving around in her system but moving through her system.

This may or may not be a news flash but Ellie Kate is a fire cracker.  This morning she decided that she was tired of where the IV was so she pulled it out. This isn't the first time she randomly started pulling at her tubes and lines.  So she spent a good part of this morning being held down by a team of nurses while they found another place for her IV (her foot).  I'm not sure if there is a weight-lifting competition for 4 month olds but EKM would win if there was such a thing.  She is ridiculously strong.  But she is way cute, and by way cute, I mean totally beautiful.

Once again, we'll meet with our handful of doctors and update this page as we get updated.

Here are some prayer suggestions for those with the time:
(1) pray that EKM will continue to have movements, which in turn will eliminate all the barium in her system.
(2) pray that her system will return to its normal motility and function.
(3) pray for her momma, Ryan Elizabeth... this has been a long and grueling ordeal for Ryan.  She is very tired and wants to take EKM home.
(4) pray for Conner, he's tired of not having his parents at home.

 - MFM

April 7, 2006

What we've learned up to this point is that something is wrong with Ellie Kate's small intestine.  The word that is used to describe what is wrong is "ileus"... meaning intestinal obstruction.  We don't know if this is an intermittent obstruction, partial obstruction or (as one doctor has hypothesized) a showing of poor muscle tone related to NKH.  The last possibility is something that I dispute, based on no literature that I've found to support it but he is a doctor and might be smarter than me.... might.

Anyway, the treatment regime is consisting of TPN, reglan, and 1-2 ozs of milk every 3 hours.  We'll try this approach to see if it (A) stimulates her small intestine and (B) the reglan helps the ileus.  If this doesn't work we will probably transport EKM to another facility... possibly back to Houston.

Pray that Ellie Kate's small intestine will start to clear up and function properly again.  We'll keep you updated once we receive updates.

 - MFM