A tale of two Brians

If any of you out there in Groneman Family Blog land are thinking that my lack of reports on Cambrie means that things have been peachy...think again. Cambrie has been in the hospital all week this past week. They started a feeding tube, inserted through the nose, past the stomach and into her intestines. That came with some significant pain/irritation/distress. To go down into the intestine, a thicker stiffer tube is used, and it is inserted with a wire that they extract when in place. So she had difficultly trying to adjust to that (the medical staff there told her she was the first pregnant lady they had ever seen that let it stay in even 24 hours. But Cambrie was determined to make it work (and her determination far exceeds others determination), so it was still there like 3 days after they inserted it. The feedings were fine...bypassing her stomach bypassed the nausea too. However, night before last, the tube got clogged, so they had to pull it out. So yesterday, they tried to put another one in. This time they inserted it into the other nostril. Again, another painful procedure, but it went wrong. Because it wasn't doing what it was supposed to do they did an x ray to determine what was happening, and discovered that it had gone around and around in the stomach, and was in some sort of knot like thing (Steve, feel free to correct me if I am getting this wrong). It couldn't go into the intestine, but didn't want to come back up the esophogus either. The GI Dr who was doing the procedure decided they should just leave it there and feed her. Cambrie did her best to explain that the reason she was getting the feeding tube was to avoid her stomach completely as she would get violently ill. But the Dr decided to "try it out". So he started the feed. Cambrie says that within 30 seconds, she was throwing up violently and it just kept going on after it started for a long time. Cambrie told the Dr, the tube HAD to go, and that if he didn't do it, SHE WOULD! So, basically, they ripped it back up and out. But it had done it's damage...as she continued to vomit, she was also vomiting blood. Steve talked to his Gastro-Intestinal specialist brother to see what he would suggest...to try again or what. He told them that to abandon the feeding tube, as the kind that they have to use for Cambrie's conditon had frequent malfuntions. He told them to just go to the TPN. So this morning they put in a pick line (a permanent port through which the feeding intraveinous TPN is administered so that they don't have to try to find a new vein to start a new IV every 3 days or so.) and the TPN begins today. She has started once again to be weened of the IV Zofran (for nausea), as they will not allow her to administer it to herself at home (even though if she were still an Home Health Care nurse, she would be doing it for others). It is the only drug that is curbing the nausea, but thus far, the zofran that you swallow won't stay down, so that isn't an option.
Poor little punkin has had a rough last couple of days...and weeks. I remind you that TPN comes with it dangers as well. If contaminated anywhere between its being put together till the entry of her body, it could kill her within 24 hours. She hasn't even reached month #2 of her pregnancy yet, so that gives many more months of high risk for the mother and child. Cambrie also had to submit to xrays in the last 5 days (which is known to cause brain cancer in the fetus-later I would assume), so that is distressing enough for Cambrie. Anyway, she could use your prayers in her behalf, and Fast Sunday is this coming week. I hope some of you might join me in my prayer and fast for Cambrie.