Friday, November 5

Walker went into his procedure today at about 9:45am. The plan going in this morning was to give him a local anesthetic to freeze his stomach and then insert the tube. The cardiac anesthesiologist believed this was the safest option for Walker with his heart condition, as it meant they would not have to put him completely under anesthesia and they would not have to intubate him. Unfortunately Walker was not still enough and they quickly realized they had to intubate him and put him fully under.

The surgeon explained to us afterwards that it was extremely difficult for him to get the tube into Walker's stomach. His spleen and liver were blocking the way to his stomach, so the surgeon had to insert something to push them further apart from each other. When he did this, Walker's bowel was also right there, which he did not want to puncture. In the end he was able to get a tube in, however he had to use a different, smaller tube than was originally planned. He explained this was because once he was in there, he realized this was the safest option for Walker. I am so thankful that God heard our prayers to give Walker's surgeons wisdom and skilled hands.

We were able to see Walker pretty soon after he was back in the NICU. He looked so different than he has in the last few days-- much weaker and more pale. It was hard to see him like that. Pretty soon after returning to his bed, Walker was given an X-ray on his abdomen to check the positioning of the G-tube and on his chest to check the positioning of his intubation tube. They ended up having to move his intubation tube, but said the G-tube placement looked good.

The hope was for Walker to get some electrolytes into his stomach through his G-tube tonight, around 8:00pm. They will give him very small amounts of electrolyte solution over the night, and if he responds well and there are no issues, they hope to be able to give him some breast milk through his tube tomorrow. They are taking things very slowly, though, because his stomach is tiny and has never had anything in it before.

I am just about to head back over to the hospital to check on him and spend some time with him. It's really hard not being able to hold him in my arms again. But for now, I will hold his hands and his head and his feet, I will sing to him and read him stories, I will thank God for protecting our sweet boy, and I will pray that I get to hold him in my arms again soon.

Please continue to pray that Walker recovers well from this procedure. Pray that there are no complications. Pray that he responds well to the electrolytes and is able to slowly be introduced to breast milk. Pray that he remains comfortable and that is pain is minimal, that he starts to get his colour and energy back soon and that he won't have to be intubated for long.

(Look at his adorable new hat from Auntie Marissa! <3)