An interview with Dr Chan

In Dr Chan’s absence (he’s been on holidays for the past 10 days or so) I think we have been lulled into a false sense of security. I know I for one was thinking: “Will’s tummy’s going down, he’s breathing on his own, he’s throwing down the milk and putting on the weight so he must be ready to journey back to Shouson Hill with us any day now”. Well, after the nurse organized an “interview” with Dr Chan I have to say that this is not in fact the case.

Apparently the contrast/X-ray on Thursday will have two possible outcomes.

Outcome No. 1: The fluid they inject into the catheter and up through the urethra and bladder will show a leak. If this is the case the catheter will be changed and Will will be placed in the queue for surgery. This will take one to two weeks to come about. He would then have a general anesthetic, Dr Chan would cut through the skin (somewhere on the abdomen I assume) and suture up the leak.

Outcome No. 2: The fluid injection up the catheter would not show any leak. I thought this would be a good thing and they would just say “Well there you go, who knows what happened, go home, live life, come back if you see anything out of the ordinary.” But, apparently an alternate cause of the problem is that the catheter is holding open a valve that has accidentally grown in the urethra, which without the catheter in would stop the urine from flowing out. (Dr Harry suggested this to me a few days ago and I didn’t even acknowledge this as a possibility so I will have to defer to his medical brilliance and suggest that perhaps medical school should have been his destination rather than IT, after all. Although I am still not going to listen to his “hole in a lung theory”!) So, if this is the case they will still do surgery but of a different type where they insert a scope into the catheter and go in and look at the area to see if they can find said valve. If they find it they would then electrify it so there is no longer a valve doing the wrong thing. This procedure would also be under a general anesthetic and would take one to two weeks to happen.

After each of these procedures I imagine there is a recovery time so it looks like Will is in Queen Mary for a good few days yet.

So, although I was a little shocked that Will has to have surgery no matter what (at this stage) I am feeling quite calm and just praying that God will guide the doctors’ hands and take care of Will through any of the procedures. God has held him up so far and I have no reason to doubt His ability, I just need to stay patient and faithful.

I also found out that they ran a culture on the catheter yesterday and discovered bacteria. Because they don’t want to change the catheter before the procedure on Thursday and because it involves squirting something back up the catheter (which could take the bacteria with it) they have started Will on antibiotics today as a preemptive strike. He is fine, no temperature or symptoms but they want him to avoid infection. I’m pleased that after the procedure on Thursday he will get a new catheter so he will have a fresh start. This one has been in since day 1 which is a long time in Dr Julie’s opinion.

Another titbit of information I gleaned today was that Will was moved out of NICU into Special Baby Care on June 1^st! This is exciting as it means he’s now considered very stable. The reason we didn’t know of the change in status was they’ve kept him in the NICU room as the level of care is higher – one to one nurse to baby ratio – and I think they like him! Please pray that he can stay here for as long as possible as the care is better – he can stay as long as no other babies need the spot.

Finally, someone has commented on the pink wraps Will is in! Good question Katie and Stephen from Dublin! I think Queen Mary got a bargain basement price on pink flannelette fabric from somewhere in China. All the sheets and wraps in the NICU and Special Care are pink, I think the kids’ ward might be the same and it is the same fabric I got to wear when I was admitted and in the Maternity ward. Will has been wearing blue outfits so I’m confident that he will grow up strong in his masculinity despite such a covering in pink!

As the weeks go on, I am still amazed at everyone’s desire to read and stay informed on Will’s condition, thank you for your continued prayers and love. Every prayer makes a difference and glorifies our wonderful God, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Again, I took more photos but these will have to wait until Harry loads them up tonight. Hope you’re all well, have a great day wherever you are, love Jules.