Well, I tend to want to write chronologically, but life keeps interrupting! We had an unexpected return to the hospital, as he pulled his feeding tube out while neuro-storming Thanksgiving day. Not all the way, but far enough. The nurse thought she got it back in, but apparently didn’t get it into the stomach, so he ended up with peritonitis. A week of potent antibiotics and other treatments, he was able to get a new one placed this past Monday finally, and we are now back to the LTAC, for now. That will be another post.
Things I learned with this particular incident…
If the PEG tube does not stay in place the full 5-6 weeks of healing time, the stomach WILL seal back in 8 hrs or less, depending on the individual. If you find yourself going through this with your loved one, make sure they are back in the hospital in less than 8 hours. One would think the medical professionals at a medical facility would know this, but even the doctors here seemed surprised by that tidbit of information. Well, all except the wound doctor, who didn’t see him until 4 days after it happened, and immediately called for transport to the hospital and had a fit -not necessarily in that order.
Take a PHOTO of what number the stomach guard is placed at on the tube, because as usual, no one believes you. I had been shown where his PEG was placed (4.5) and told to make sure that number did not change, and to let a nurse know immediately if it did, by the surgeon who first placed it. I wrongly assumed that meant what I was told would be taken seriously. When he screamed at 4am and I jumped up to check, it was at 2. Called the nurse, and the arguing about where it had actually been began, because surely he couldn’t have pulled it that much, and it must have been at 3.5, so on and so forth. Nope, it was at 4.5, and yes, he pulled it that much.
No matter if they tell you there is no transport available or they can’t get any because it is a weekend/holiday, call an ambulance yourself. I am learning, slowly, to defer to my gut, not their perceived expertise. Another notch in that belt…next time, I will call. Now I get to live with knowing he suffered unnecessarily for ten days because I listened to them telling me it wasn’t that big of an issue and the wound doctor could take care of it on Monday.
So, that’s why no posts for a quite a few days. That, and I couldn’t get WP to open on my phone for some reason, so I will need to figure that out.
The Time We Have Been Given 