Doctors' Recommendations

Well, Julianne's doctor called this afternoon and told us what we thought he'd be telling us. They all recommend the Nissen Fundoplication surgery and a g-tube. He feels that due to the severity of her reflux, it is not safe to feed Julianne anything by mouth at this time. Tomorrow we meet with the surgeon to talk about a plan. We are not sure yet if this surgery will be here in New Orleans or in Boston.

Just to explain a little, the Nissen Fundoplication is a surgery in which they wrap the top of Julianne's stomach around her esophagus in order to prevent the stomach contents from refluxing back up (for a more detailed explanation click here). A g-tube is a gastric feeding tube. It goes directly into the stomach and this is what Julianne would be fed through. Ideally, after this surgery Julianne would heal for 5-6 weeks then have another swallow study and, if the result is satisfactory, then we'd be able to work on getting her to eat on her own.

As I mentioned, we were not surprised that this is the next step. We are not excited about another surgery, but it seems to be the only option left and its what Julianne needs. We're thankful for caring and knowledgeable physicians who can diagnose these problems and recommend treatment. We're also thankful that Julianne has been protected in our previous attempts at feeding. Please continue to pray for Julianne's protection and for guidance in our decision as to where Julianne should have this surgery.

Now, as promised, here are some new pictures and videos:

My sneaky face

You're not getting any food in me! These lips are sealed, lady! (this was when we COULD feed her, by the way)

Bathing beauty

Watching daddy and mommy do taxes is so boring that I fell asleep.

Just being cute

Here I am taking a bath in my new tub!

My favorite part of a bath is getting dried off!

Quit taking pictures and dry me off, will ya?