Minor Setback

It wouldn't be Madeleine if there wasn't at least one bump in the road, right? After four really great days, we're taking a slight step backward as Madeleine's gut is having trouble processing food. This isn't a major concern and honestly, I don't think anyone is surprised-- we were just hoping that Madeleine would smoothly sail through the recovery period. Here's what going on: After a good day on Sunday with a number of bowel movements, they started feeding Madeleine yesterday with small amounts of Pedialyte-- basically sugar water with a few other minerals mixed in. She didn't have a terrible reaction to it but her gut was visibly extended and was causing some discomfort as this stretches out her surgical incision. Throughout the evening and night they backed off the food and then slowly tried to ramp the rate back up but with no avail. Given this information, the medical team decided to stop feeding this morning and to simply allow her gut more time to heal and prepare for feeding.

Since its been nearly five days since Madeleine has received any substantial nutrition, the team also decided to start her on TPN-- IV Food. The only drawback to TPN is that it requires a central line as TPN can burn the skin and the doctors don't like using a regular IV that can easily fall out. Since Madeleine's veins are very small and difficult to access, they're taking her down to surgery insert the central line (also called a PIC line).

In the grand scheme of things, this is a very minor setback. Once the PIC line in, Madeleine will receive nutrition and the doctors will likely try feeding her again in a few days once they're convinced that the gut is fully recovered from surgery. That's all for now-- we'll keep you posted as we learn more.