Welcome to Tyler and Parker Thompson's Blog

Tyler and Parker Thompson arrived on June 23, 2008 at only 26 weeks and 4 days old, weighing 1 pound 6 ounces (Parker) and 1 pound 10 ounces (Tyler). Parker spent 129 days (home 10/30/08) in the NICU, while brother Tyler spent 143 (home 11/13/08). We are thrilled to have our family complete with both boys home!

This blog was created by John (the daddy) to inform family and friends (and now new acquaintances) of the twins progression. Below is the blog archive dating back to the week Heather (the mommy) was admitted to the hospital. We try to post weekly updates, but on occasion the week gets the best of us.




Friday, July 10, 2009

Surgery is Coming!


Parker: "This doctor stuff really sucks...and what's going on with my hair?"

Well, the inevitable is happening, next week the boys will have surgery to place each with a G-tube. Our appointment with the Pediatric Surgeon was enlightening, to the say the least. We were relieved to actually KNOW the surgeon - he was the same one who performed Parker's hernia surgery in the NICU. I was surprised to see him because we were at a Sutter facility but his entire office services both Sutter and UC Davis - lucky us! I was concerned about straddling two health care systems, but with Dr. Marr on board, I feel confident that we can't go wrong. He is highly regarded by everyone with whom we've talked and from our own experiences feel like we can trust him with our little baby's lives.

We were surprised to hear that the surgery will warrant a 3-day hospital stay - yikes! Dr. Marr does not place G-tubes endoscopically, like others doctors. He has corrected too many "mistakes" that have occured with endoscopic surgeries with babies so he has elected to not do these procedures. He feels that the surgical G-tube procedures he performs are more successful long-term and will be helpful to the boys right away. Basically the surgeon will make an incision in the belly area, then make an opening into the stomach. He'll place the tube through the belly opening and into the stomach, then stitch the tube in place. A temporary outter tube will be placed until the area heals (much like a pierced earring) - about two months, then the boys will get the Mic-Key button in it's place.

The doctor is trying to get us in for surgery next Friday, June 17th and if that doesn't work it'll be Monday the 20th. We'd like the surgeries as soon as possible so the boys can get on the "healing train" toot! toot! before John goes back to work in August! I'm a bit nervous about spending 3 days in the hospital - of course it's not 129 or 143 days, so I'm not sure why I'm feeling anxious. I guess I'm just thinking of how active the boys are and how hard it will be for them to be confined. Also, they are so in tune and aware of me and John, I worry about them possibly waking up and us being gone - and if they're not feeling well, how sad! And of course there's the intubation - I'd rather not have that happen again! But all of that stuff is just not negotiable and we'll just have to deal with it as part of making the boys healthy and well!

I'll update you on the final surgery date, but for now enjoy some fun pics below!


Grandpa came for a visit - this picture of him with Tyler is just too cute!

1 comment:

Joy said...

Good luck with surgery. I wouldnt' worry too much about the intubation. That was the part I dreaded most, too.. The vent and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship.
But when Robbie had his in March, he was off the vent before leaving the OR. It was fine.
I hope the boys both recover quickly. Probably the first day, they'll sleep. Then you'll spend the next 2 days trying to keep them still.. and then you can focus on fattening them up!