October Update

Hi everyone....

I just wanted to ask for prayer for Zeke. For some reason, he's had a really hard time tolerating his feedings the past couple of days. He hasn't wanted much by mouth and after he has a tube feeding he's been doing a lot of wretching. After he has a tube feeding, he wretches and a lot of mucus is coming up out of the tube. This could possibly be because he's getting over a cold or just that he isn't tolerating his feedings. We've backed up a little--he's now getting only 4 oz every 4 hours. He's only had one feeding so far today and he did fairly well--he only wretched one time and only a couple of teaspoons came up so that's a big improvement over yesterday's battles. He's lost a couple of ounces which is discouraging, but I'm trying to look at the big picture and at how much he's gained total in the last few weeks. Dr. Twerdi's nurse is setting up appointments with Zeke's GI (stomach doctor), the surgeon who placed his g-tube, and an appointment for Zeke to have another upper GI performed. They aren't really sure why he isn't tolerating his feedings better and want to see what's going on. They feel like he should be able to tolerate more at this point than he is currently. Please pray that we fill figure out what is going on and help Zeke to eat and gain weight.

I talked to both Dr. Twerdi and his speech therapist yesterday about our long term plan for Zeke's feedings--and both feel like he could still come off of the g-tube at some point. The speech therapist is encouraged by the fact that he is at least taking something by mouth. I feel like every time we take a step forward, we take two steps back, but she encouraged me by saying that she's worked with other children who have just decided one day they want to eat again and they get to remove their g-tubes. We are grateful for Zeke's g-tube as it has made our lives SO much easier, but it's hard being a mother and feeding your child through a tube--it just isn't natural. As always, please continue to pray for Zeke's desire to eat.

I start back to work Monday so please be in prayer for our family and our schedule. Things are getting better at work, but I know it's going to be hard to go back and leave Zeke again. I've really enjoyed the last couple of weeks with him--I've been able to see him improve so much!

I filled out the last part of the application with the Department of Social Services yesterday (the Medicaid portion) so hopefully the ball can continue rolling for CAP-C which would give us in-home nursing and Medicaid. The medical bills are stacking up, but God has been faithful up until now to provide and I know He will continue to do so. Our new insurance isn't covering some of the things that our old insurance covered, but the good news is there is a max out of pocket and once we hit that, what they do cover they will cover at 100%! We're very excited about this!

As always, thank you all for your love, prayers, and support!

Melissa