Update on William's tests

William had his pH probe, esophogram, and swallow study last week. He was a champ during all of it and didn't turn blue once - even while they put the probe in his nose! Way to go William :)

After 18 hours (the minimum time the GI doctor needed), he pulled his probe out by himself - in the 2 seconds I turned away! They were able to gather enough information though, so he didn't need to have it reinserted.

We received good and bad news from the tests. His esophogram looked good which means the stricture site is staying open after the last dilation. William seems to respond well to the dilations and his stricture site stays open (like it should) after each dilation instead of shrinking back down.

He did great during the swallow study, he swallowed from a medicine cup and ate baby food. He was starving since this is a fasting study, so he didn't care that it had barium mixed in! He refluxed the baby food but didn't show signs of refluxing the water.

His pH probe came back with information that he has minimal episodes of acid reflux - which means his reflux medicine is working and controlling it like it should. The bad news is that he had significant reflux and his doctor's feel it is in his best interest to have a nissen fundoplication done to help minimize or eliminate reflux. They think reflux causes his dying spells, so - in theory- this should stop reflux and stop the dying spells.

There are a lot of complications that go along with the nissen fundoplication surgery, especially in EA/TEF kids and there is no guarantee his dying spells are caused by reflux or that this surgery can stop reflux. Brian and I have done a lot of research and asked for a team meeting with his GI doctor and his surgeon to discuss the results, their recommendations, and our questions. We also called the team in Boston and they said they would review the results and call us to discuss.

We're praying God gives us the knowledge to make the right decision for William. It's not an easy decision because of all the complications and how difficult his life could be afterwards. It's also beyond terrifying to think of more dying spells, but without knowing for sure what is causing them, it's hard to make a decision on this particular surgery. We know we'll be better informed tomorrow after we meet with his doctors and hopefully we will feel better about our decision moving forward. We'll keep you updated.