Redmond is free!
On December 19, 2019, we were able to remove the g-tube permanently. After two years and nine months with a feeding tube, it’s gone! Redmond is eating, drinking, and taking all his medication 100% by mouth.
It brings us such joy to see him eating with gusto, asking for food and drinks, stealing our food, and even having to tell him that he’s had enough! He’s eating solid foods, chewing and swallowing, and drinking out of straw cups or sippy cups.
Foods that are difficult to chew (roast beef or hard things like granola) still give him a little trouble, but he tries and his muscles continue to grow stronger. He even likes salad and things like steamed broccoli.
In the weeks since the tube was removed, he’s even gained weight appropriately.
This wonderful news has come with its challenges. The hole where the tube went into his stomach, called a stoma, hasn’t closed on its own like we’d hoped it would. It’s surgically attached to his stomach, so stomach acid and contents leak out. We had to bandage the hole so it didn’t leak everywhere, but that caused the skin around the hole to become very painful. We consulted every healthcare professional we could think of on how to help him heal, but nothing worked.
After weeks of desperate prayer, one morning I suddenly had an idea for a way to bandage it that basically puts enough pressure on the hole to keep it closed. Only God could have given me that idea, as I have zero medical training and know nothing of wound care! Ever since then, life has been much better for us around here.
We wanted to avoid surgery if at all possible, but the hole isn’t closing on it’s own. He is scheduled to have it surgically closed on February 14th. Happy Valentine’s Day to us! Hopefully by the beginning of March, this whole ordeal will be nothing but a memory and a scar.
I am especially looking forward to his birthday this year when he might actually eat his own cake for the first time ever. What a cause for celebration!
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