CHOP II

Caleb was admitted to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on Sunday night for another intussesception. This is his third one in about six months. As our doctor explains, when a child has one intussesception you think, oh, that's interesting-- and you move on. They're pretty routine. When a child has a second one, you think, oh, that's strange-- and you start to keep an eye on it. When a child has a third intussesception, something is definitely going on and it's time to get serious about it.

So far we've had a full colonoscopy, an upper endoscopy, a CT scan, a high resolution ultrasound, X-rays and an upper GI small bowel follow through. He currently has an NG tube in and an IV, so he's been able to stay hydrated with the IV and he gets some nutritional supplements through the NG Tube.

During the colonoscopy they found that his Ileocecal Valve (ICV) is inflamed and irritated. If they cannot find the cause of the irritation with a few more tests then they are thinking that they will do a small surgery on Friday (maybe Monday, who knows?!) where they would insert a camera into his adomindal cavity to check things out. If that doesn't provide any answers, they might have to open him up (just a bit!) and manually "run his bowel." Which means they'll pull out his bowels and feel for something the old fashioned way-- with their hands.

We'll let you know what they decide! Thanks for all your support and prayers. We know we couldn't do this without all of you.