Friday, March 13, 2009

"We're winning"

The title of this post is a direct quote from Blaise's surgeon. "We're winning." She's doing great. She tolerates feeds, both oral and enteral. Her liver is improving. Her general health is excellent and her behavior is developmentally appropriate. She's gaining weight well. AND SHE HAS A LARGE INTESTINE!

The lower GI contrast study yesterday showed a lot of large intestine, all apparently intact. They can't say for certain that it's the whole thing, although they think it might be, and they have no way of determining whether it ends in an ileocecal valve or just just a plain old dead-end. Still, she has a nice long piece of it to work with and that can only help. The plan for her surgery is officially to close her ostomy and connect her small and large intestines. Barring any kind of infection between now and then, the surgery will be April 6.

Needless to say, we're very, very happy about this news. We were braced to hear that she had almost no large intestine and hoping to hear that she had at least half. Most, if not all, is excellent. We're obviously apprehensive about her surgery in April, but knowing the plan helps a lot.

Coincidentally, Ben's fortune cookie tonight said, "Believe in miracles." Of course, mine said, "Even the greatest whale is helpless in the middle of a desert" (what??) so we're not reading too much into the fortune cookies.

7 comments:

Jarasa said...

What wonderful news! Blaise is such a little champ, and we're thrilled to hear she was saving this nice surprise for her mom & dad.

Adrienne said...

That is excellent news!!! Auden and I are doing a happy dance--we're so happy to hear such great news!

Raeanne said...

What great news! I'd save that fortune anyway, it's a good one!
Faith and I will be joining you guys in Boston on the 24th... looking forward to meeting you! :)

Unknown said...

That is amazing news - so happy to hear that your tentative optimism from Thursday was confirmed by the surgeon!

Aurora n' Chris said...

Yippie!!! We're all excited to hear about this unexpected great news - Please let us know how we can help in early April. Will you have family visiting then?

Margaret said...

CONGRATS!!! This is fantastic news, Nice work Blaise:) way to rock it.

grighi said...

I am very happy about the great news!!!!