Testing

Jill has a lot of discomfort while she eats from a bottle and has recently developed an aversion to the bottle while she is awake. Most of her feeding lately occurs while she is asleep. Since she doesn’t sleep very well, she doesn’t eat much. Since she doesn’t eat much, she isn’t gaining weight as fast as she should. Her problem seems to be related to her acid reflux condition. In order to see what type of damage, if any, her acid reflux has caused to her esophagus and to see if there is any other explanation to her feeding problems, her gastrointestinal specialist recommended that she undergo some testing.

This morning Jill underwent a test called upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy. It is a procedure that allows the doctor to look at the interior lining of her esophagus, her stomach, and the first part of her small intestine through a thin, flexible viewing instrument called an endoscope. During the procedure, several tissue samples are taken to run some tests to see if any non-visual damage has taken place.


We showed up at St. Luke’s hospital at 8:00 a.m. to check in (in about 11-degree weather). About an hour later Jill was changed into her hospital gown. After discussing the procedure with her doctor, she was given some liquid medicine to relax her. Jill was then carted off while we were sent to the waiting room to wait for a short time. Jill was then given some anesthetic before her procedure.

Judy was very nervous during the wait. Jill’s doctor came out and explained that he didn’t see any visual evidence of scarring in her esophagus from stomach acid or any thrush (a type of yeast infection that she has had a few times and causes her discomfort). This was good news. However, the procedure revealed that her esophagus has more curvature than normal, which may also be contributing to the acid reflux and feeding problems. It also appears that the top of her stomach may be protruding through her diaphragm, a condition called hiatal hernia. A description of this condition with a good visual is located at: http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/hiatal-hernia.

A hiatal hernia is not always considered serious, but it may require surgery. At this point, her doctor wants to consult with Jill’s surgeon and wait for the results of the tissue samples (sometime next week). There has been talk in the past that if Jill goes on a feeding tube, she will likely have another procedure called a fundoplication at the same time. With the possible hiatal hernia, Jill’s surgeon may be more likely to opt for surgery and perform the fundoplication at the same time. This would drastically improve her acid reflux problems, but could have other side effects such as bloating and difficulty vomiting. We’ll just have to wait and see what her doctor and surgeon recommend. Whatever it is, we know that her care thus far has been top notch and that we can continue to expect great care from them.

Jill remained very calm throughout the morning. She received a lot of attention from everyone that saw her. She is quite the trooper.

Please keep Jill in your prayers and pray that her doctors will be given wisdom in determining the next step. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we learn more.