I called the hospital a couple of times last night to check on Aubrey. I was getting some news of “no change” which was better news than it could have been. At 7:00 A.M., I received a call from the doctor that Aubrey had an x-ray that showed that his bowel had been perforated. I had suspected this was the case - it explained the infection and the swollen belly. But the doctor needed more than a hunch before calling a surgeon. The x-ray confirmed the suspicions this morning.
Brise and I came straight to the hospital (while sending out calls for prayers to many people who were quick to provide support) and met with Dr. Cosper, a pediatric surgeon. He explained that because Aubrey weighs less than 1,000 grams, the plan would be to insert small drains in his abdomen to allow the release of gas and feces. Because he is so tiny, his intestines have the ability to self-repair damage. That means that just allowing the abdomen to drain (while giving him a strong dose of broad-spectrum antibiotics) will hopefully be sufficient to get Aubrey all better. There is a chance that the intestines won’t heal themselves, in which case the doctors would need to do another surgery to create an ostomy (taking the injured part of the intestine outside of the body to empty) while we wait for Aubrey to grow bigger and stronger. Once he was bigger and stronger, the surgeon could sew up the hole and put the intestine back where it belongs. We should know if this is necessary within a few days.
The other risk Aubrey is fighting is that the perforation, when it heals, creates a blockage. Because Aubrey is going back to a diet of fancy IV Powerade, we won’t learn of a blockage until he restarts eating milk and does so successfully. Therefore, it will be about a month until we know that he doesn’t have a blockage.
For now, the doctor has downgraded Aubrey’s level of concern from a 6 to a 5 (it escalated to an 8 this morning) and Aubrey is resting under sedation.
