Oh, Henry!

As many of you know, we had a big scare a couple weeks ago when Henry underwent surgery for a bowel obstruction.

It all started with a few episodes of vomiting. Then he stopped pooping, and his belly became bloated. He looked miserable. Our pediatrician sent us to the emergency room at Children's Hospital (a place I hoped my kids would never have to see). He had a number of tests and was ultimately admitted for close observation. By the next morning, he was looking worse. The tests were inconclusive, so our doctor recommended surgery. Henry was found to have an area of his small intestine that had gotten lodged under an adhesion in his belly (an adhesion is a sort of scar-like tissue forming a band within his abdomen. Although adhesions are common after abdominal surgery, Henry was born with his.)

The surgeon had to make about a 3 inch incision across his belly button. His intestines were twisted and bloated -- nothing could get through. We are very thankful that the operation was done before any permanent damage to the intestines could occur. Basically, all the surgeon had to do was cut through the adhesion and then untwist the intestines.

Henry couldn't eat for 4 days after the operation -- he needed to wait that long for his digestive system to wake up after the surgery. This picture shows the IV line that was placed in his right arm -- he got artificial nutrition through this.

Finally, the 4th night after his surgery, Henry was able to start eating again. We were able to bring him home the next day.

We are extremely thankful to our friends, neighbors, and families for supporting us through this awful, terribly stressful time.