Wednesday, February 25, 2009

goodbye appendix, hello esophagus

So yes, it is true, Justin went into the ER yesterday morning because he was having pains in his stomach and they decided he needed his appendix out. Ali was nice enough to come take care of the kids all day while we waited for our turn, since the surgeon already was booked up, it took us a while for them to fit us in. I was a little concerned about them intubating justin because of his small esophagus so i mentioned it and they said that maybe the doctor could take a look down his throat with the scope and see if he thought it needed to be stretched. Justin has had a small esophagus his whole life but the last 5 years it has been getting worse and worse- his food would get stuck almost every time he ate, we knew he needed the surgery, but kept putting it off. The surgeon said he would take a look. So the appendectomy went good, and they said that his esophagus near the end before it enters the stomach was so small it was almost closed off, he stretched it out a bit but it started to bleed so he had to stop. it still isn't the size of a normal person's, but it feels great for Justin. He also had two ulcers in his stomach and a lot of inflammation from the acid. So I guess we kind of got a two for one deal. He is home and is pretty sore, they put him on an all liquid diet for a week too, Justin will probably be much skinnier next time you see him. We are glad it all went well, not the way we planned on spending our tuesday but what can you do!

9 comments:

Rochelle said...

Wow!!! That is a lot to get done. Maybe we can get some weight on him now that he has a bigger opening:)

Claudia Orgill said...

So glad to hear Justin is doing well. What a scarey thing to deal with - appendixes are such a strange thing!

How nice that his esophogus is now !!!stretched!!! and he'll be able to swallow his food much more comfortably...I can't believe it was almost pinched off!

Maybe this appendix problem was a bit of a blessing in disguise.

BTW - Cabbage helps stomach ulcers. You could make cabbage soup or something. Aloe Vera juice is good too! :)

Amanda said...

That is scary, but good that you caught it and took care of it. I am glad all went well. Get well soon Justin!

Yo said...

I hope he feels better. I used to assist doctors in stretching esophagus's and he will have to go back I'm sure to get it stretched again. Sometimes once is all you need but usually you have to go back every so often to have it restretched.

James said...

Wow justin got an internal organ makeover. Congratulations!

April said...

Jimmy joe made it sound like he's had "Work Done" Im glad they helped you feel better justin. Doctors can do some amazing things. To bad you cant eat solids for a week. Sorry about that. Not fun.

The Bliss Family said...

That's pretty scary! I'm glad he's doing okay though. Isn't he already pretty skinny? Does he have much weight to lose???

The Bliss Family said...

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Aubrey said...

Wow, I am sorry to hear you guys haven't had the best week. You guys are in our prayers, good luck with the healing Justin!