G-Tube and Gastroenteritis

The past two weeks have been very difficult for us.  On the 13th, a Monday, Levi had the G-tube placement surgery, which went very well.  We were able to go home from the hospital the very next day.  On Friday night after our bible study meeting, we headed to Walmart to pick Miranda up from work when we were hit by a car in the next lane.  It wasn't at a high speed, and thankfully no one was hurt, but the side of our van was smashed in, and the other driver did not stop.  Frustrating!  The next day Levi vomited with his noon feeding, and things went downhill from there.  He screamed the rest of the day, vomited a few more times, and then choked during one episode and scared me so badly I called 911.  We were taken to Cardinal Glennon ER, had the usual x-rays and labs, and were told he was backed up.  They gave him an enema and told us to give him one a day for a day or so.  We did that for two days and figured his system was cleaned out and things would get better.  No such luck.  He was still vomiting and screaming in pain.  All this time I was concerned that the accident, although minor, had somehow jostled the g-tube and hurt him.  So off we went to Cardinal Glennon again on Tuesday, where we were admitted because he was a bit dehydrated.  He was given nothing in his tummy that entire day.  In fact, they didn't even want meds given through the tube so switched to IV forms.  The Clobazam (Onfi) he is on does not have an IV form, so they gave him Ativan instead.  Well, he woke up in the middle of the night with at least double seizures and his eyes would roll downward.  He has done this before with other seizure meds, so I wouldn't allow any more Ativan.  That really drugged him, poor little guy!  He's usually awake by 6:00, and he slept in all the way to 11! He screamed off and on all day, which I attributed to crankiness from being sleepy from Ativan.  We were going to go home after an evening feed if he kept it all down.  Well, during the feed I forgot he was hooked up, and tried to change positions and the tube came apart from the bag.  Levi started screaming and gagging.  I definitely flipped out.  I was sure I had yanked the entire tube right out of his tummy!  Thankfully all was well, I hadn't even ripped the suture holding it in place.  We continued the feed, and he vomited right after. So we stayed another night and went home the next evening.  All throughout the hospital stay Levi had been thoroughly examined by all the teams of doctors (surgery, GI, neurology, and the general floor team) and the consensus was that he had gastroenteritis.  Basically a flu bug that inflames the intestines.  It's very painful and can last up to two weeks.  On top of all this, Levi has not been sleeping through the night for weeks.  I think this is more due to medicine weans than anything else, but it has made a bad situation even worse.  We talked to the neurologist and he agreed that a small dose of melatonin as needed for sleep is a good idea.

As I write this, it has been exactly two weeks since the onset of symptoms.  Last night he slept all night and woke up with smiles. He has tolerated feeds and has had no signs of gagging.  We are praying that this bug has finally gone away for good!!