This will be a quick post as minutes of sleep come few and far between with this teething (and walking!) one year old!
Alex had a follow up appointment to his debridement surgery last week (Thursday). Dr. Devine and Carrie (his PA) think that the wound is healing as well as they expected. He still has a large fistula tract from the wound to his bowel, again, as they expected. The likelihood that the fistula will close on its own is well...not likely. We knew this going into the previous surgery, but with the infection and inflammation that went with it, we weren't sure how large the fistula tract was. I'll spare you the details, but just assure you that we now know that the tract is pretty large and we definitely need to do something to help it. Previously, Dr. Devine was thinking we would just manage the fistula as we do Alex's others (3 or so). It's apparent as the infection calms down that this would be very difficult.
SO...Dr. Devine would like to give Alex another 4-6 weeks for the inflammation to continue to decrease and the infection to continue to calm down. Then we will have some major surgery planned for mid-to-late March. Dr. Devine will resect some of Alex's small bowel (a few inches) including his current stoma where the fistula runs to now. He will then create a new end ileostomy on the other side of his abdomen, open the entire fistula tract and place a wound vac on it to help it heal. He will likely be in the hospital for about 5 days, we'll stick around Rochester for another couple and then return back to KS in time to catch Spring, we hope! We should know a more specific date soon.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. We are so blessed to have so much love and support from each one of you! It truly carries us through the good days and the bad. Love to you all!
